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Showtime Championship Boxing Recap

April 12, 2008

St. Pete Times Forum-Tampa, Florida

WBC Light Heavyweight (175 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Chad Dawson (25-0, 17 KO's, 1 NC, 173.75 pounds) (c) vs. Glen Johnson (47-11-2, 32 KO's, 172.5 pounds)

Dawson won this championship from Tomasz Adamek on February 3, 2007 via 12-round unanimous decision at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimee, Florida. This is Dawson's third defense of this title.

Dawson would be 26-0, however following a March 27, 2004, 6-round unanimous decision victory over Aundalen Sloan at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut, he failed a post match drug test. Unable to produce a prescription that said he needed the marijuana to combat his ADD, Dawson was suspended for 6 months and the outcome of the match was changed to a no contest. Dawson has said the public embarrassment from the failed drug test refocused him on boxing.

The New Haven, Connecticut resident was dominant in his last match, which was a glorified sparring session. Dawson defeated Epifanio Mendoza via technical knockout at 2:30 of round 4 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California on September 29, 2007. It was impressive Mendoza lasted that long. Dawson showed sterling defense in the match and able to do whatever he wanted in the ring that night.

Dawson is The Ring magazine's number 5 contender at 175 behind its champion in the weight class, Bernard Hopkins.

Johnson began his pro career facing embarrassingly soft opponents. From his pro debut on February 19, 1993, until February 25, 1997, Johnson had 30 matches and only twice against opponents that had 3 wins in their last 6 matches before facing him. All of Johnson's other 28 opponents sported 2 and usually fewer wins in their last 6 matches before facing him. This allowed Johnson to compile a record of 30-0 during that stretch. However, in Johnson's attempt to go 33-0, he was matched up with Hopkins. Hopkins defeated Johnson via technical at 1:23 of round 11 on July 20, 1997.

The Miami, Florida resident would then go 6-8-1 over his next 15 matches with the losses coming to the decent opponents and the wins over the likes of Armando Campas (3-20-4) and Augustine Renteria (9-23-5).

Then on November 7, 2003, Johnson received a match with Clinton Woods and earned a draw in a match for the vacant IBF Championship at 175 pounds at the Hillsborough Leisure Centre in Sheffield, England. However, most observers believe Johnson deserved the decision, but was competing in Woods' hometown. In a rematch with Woods on February 6, 2004 at Ponds Forge Arena in Sheffield, Johnson defeated Woods in a narrow unanimous decision.

This earned Johnson a match with an already past his prime Roy Jones, Jr. who was coming off back-to-back poor showings against Antonio Tarver. Johnson defeated Jones with a surprising knockout 48 seconds into round 9 on September 25, 2004. The outcome was thought to say more about Jones' fall from boxing royalty, then Johnson's rise to the level of boxing's elite. Johnson would next win The Ring championship at 175 pounds via 12-round split decision by upsetting Tarver on December 18, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Those 3 big wins in 2004 would lead Johnson to be named the 2004 Fighter of the Year by both USA Today and The Ring.

However on June 18, 2005, Johnson would drop the rematch to Tarver in a narrow unanimous 12-round decision at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. Many observers felt Johnson had beaten Tarver in the rematch, but been on the wrong end of another bad decision. Johnson would win 2 more matches and earn a third match with Woods for a title at 175 pounds. Woods won this match on September 2, 2006 at Reebok Stadium in Lancashire, England via narrow 12-round split decision. This was another decision that Johnson probably deserved, but went against him. Johnson won a title eliminator for a shot Woods' belt, which is being contested in the main event of this show by defeating Montell Griffin via technical knockout at 2:38 of round 11 on May 16, 2007 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Johnson has yet to get that title match, and it is unclear if that title shot is officially at stake in this match.

The challenger's last match was technical knockout victory over Hugo Pineda at 49 seconds of round 8 on January 5, 2008 at Bally's Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Johnson is The Ring's number 4 contender at 175 pounds.

At 25-years-old, Dawson has the age advantage over the 39-year-old Johnson. Dawson has the height advantage standing 6' 1" tall, while Johnson stands 5' 9" tall. The champion has the reach advantage with a 76.5" wingspan, compared to Johnson's 75.5" wingspan. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available, but Dawson will probably be the heavier competitor in the ring. The champion will box out of the southpaw stance, despite being naturally right handed. The challenger will employ the orthodox stance. Bodog lists Dawson as a heavy favorite in this match.

Kimbo Slice is part of Dawson's entourage entering the ring. Slice is wearing a very nice suit and a great matching hat that covers up his bald spot.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this event. The judges are from Venezuela, Florida and Montreal, Quebec. The referee is Tommy Kimmons.

Dawson puts on a boxing clinic winning round 1, 10-9. Johnson lands some good right hands to win round 2, 10-9. This is becoming a very good match. Really close round 3. Whenever Dawson is moving and using his superior hand and foot speed he is winning. In those situation, Dawson is able to land effective counter punches while still backing up and body punches from angles most boxers cannot throw them. However, whenever Dawson stops moving Johnson is hitting the champion hard. On the inside Johnson did some great work and appeared to have Dawson in trouble for a few seconds several times during the round when Dawson decided to stand and trade. However, Dawson still has significant power on the inside that can knockout Johnson, making this an exciting match. Johnson wins a close round 3, 10-9. Johnson poses for the crowd at the end of round 3, which brings the crowd to their feet cheering. Dawson looks stunned and a bit unsteady leaving his corner to start round 4. This is clearly not what Dawson expected in this match. Very close round 4 that Johnson may barely win, 10-9. The damage from the Johnson punches have taken a lot of the power off of Dawson's punches, and he appears to be wearing down from the relentless punching from Johnson. Johnson continues to walk Dawson down and force him to keep moving to punch. This is already the most difficult match of Dawson's career. After 4 rounds, Johnson leads on my scorecard, 39-37. Press row scoring after 4 rounds have it a majority draw: 38-38, 39-37 (Dawson), 38-38.

Dawson appears to out-land Johnson in round 5, and that should be good enough to win the round, 10-9. Dawson wins round 6 by boxing and moving, 10-9. After 6 rounds, my scorecard has the match even, 57-57. Press row has the match in favor of Dawson via majority decision after 6 rounds: 57-57, 58-56 (Dawson), 58-56 (Dawson).

Dawson dominates and wins round 7, 10-9. In round 7, Johnson's workrate and the power on his punches appeared to significantly decline from the effort of chasing Dawson the last several rounds. Also, Dawson has made several other key adjustments that are confusing Johnson and making things very difficult on the veteran. The southpaw is circling to his right and throwing more right hooks at the orthodox boxer. That way if Johnson circles to his left, he walks into Dawson's right hooks. If Johnson circles to his right, he would walk into the powerful straight left hand of Dawson. Also, Dawson's constant movement is preventing Johnson from charging straight at him, which would be Johnson's preferred strategy. This is an excellent display of boxing strategy and skill, that few among the elite boxers could pull off. Johnson looks discouraged heading back to his corner following round 7. To start round 8, Dawson is cut under his left eye. It is not impacting his vision and should be no factor in this match. Dawson is showing too much foot speed for Johnson and wins round 8, 10-9. After 8 rounds, Dawson leads on my scorecard, 77-75. After 8 rounds press row scoring has Dawson wining by a unanimous decision: 77-75, 78-74, 78-74.

Dawson wins a close round 9, 10-9. It appears Johnson's power punches can no longer significantly hurt Dawson. With no fear of Johnson's power Dawson had somewhat abandoned his continuous movement in the last few rounds, which allowed Johnson to catch him with a huge right hand with 52 seconds to go in round 10. Dawson is hurt badly and holding on desperately to stay standing. The crowd came to its feet, as Dawson tried to slug out the last 45 seconds after the referee forced a break, but Dawson escaped the round standing. It appears Johnson was too out of gas to go hard for the knockout the entire last 52 seconds or it is unlikely Dawson makes it to his corner without at least being knocked down. After Johnson was losing round 10, that right hand gives him the round decisively, 10-9. Great round 11, that Johnson probably wins, 10-9. Dawson decided not to box for the first 2 minutes of the round. Instead both boxers stood in close quarters trading power punches for the first 2 minutes of the round, until Dawson who was getting the worst of it decided to box, again. Dawson got the best of the boxing in the last minute, but both of these boxers are tired. Round 12 may be determined on how much Dawson has left to continue boxing, rather then to try foolishly trading punches with Johnson. After 11 rounds, my scorecard has Dawson leading, 105-104.

Johnson landed some heavy body punches in round 12, and some other punches that appeared to have Dawson hurt in the round. In round 12, Dawson landed some great combinations, and he, too landed some great body punches. However, Dawson appeared to ease up at the end of round 12 thinking he had the match won. Therefore, Johnson wins round 12 on my scorecard, 10-9. My scorecard has the match a draw, 114-114. This has been a great match and demands an immediate rematch. The crowd is giving the boxers a loud standing ovation as they go to their corners after the final bell sounds. The Showtime commentators correctly state that any doubts about the quality of these 2 boxers has been erased in this match. These are 2 elite boxers, and regardless of the outcome cannot be criticized for their performance in this match. The final scores from press row had a majority decision for Dawson: 114-114, 115-113 (Dawson), 115-112 (Dawson). That last card from press row is clearly a math error, because there is no way Dawson could have won any round, 10-8. Al Bernstein doing color commentary for Showtime scored the match a draw, 114-114.

It is taking a long time to add up the scorecards. The official decision as read by the always "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that the judges have scored the match: 116-112, 116-112, 116-112, all for the winner by unanimous decision and still WBC Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, "Bad" Chad Dawson. The decision moves Dawson to 26-0 with 17 of those wins coming by way of knockout, and 1 no decision.

In Dawson's post match interview he said this was the toughest match of his career, and he was hurt several times during the match. Dawson said he does not want a rematch, but would rather move on with his career.

Johnson in his post match interview was very upset, because he has been on the wrong side of several terrible decisions. Johnson wants a rematch.

Dawson is looking to face Tarver next. The Connecticut resident has made a special effort to be ringside at Tarver's last 2 matches. Assuming Tarver wins, that will be Dawson's next match. Based on their recent performances, Dawson should be the favorite going into a match against Tarver.

Johnson was excellent in this match, but at 39-years-old is running out of time to score big money matches. The most logical big money matches for him, do not make a lot of sense for his opponents. Johnson's first choice is the rematch with Dawson, which Dawson made clear is not happening. The Miami resident would be a solid choice to face Hopkins, should Hopkins lose to Joe Calzaghe next week. However, it is more likely Hopkins would retire or pick a bigger name opponent, rather then spend time rebuilding in a good, but unmarketable non-title match. Should Calzaghe lose to Hopkins he would drop back down to 168, which he may do anyway, and will not be looking to face Johnson anytime soon. A rematch with whoever loses the main event would make sense for Johnson. However, Johnson has already faced Woods 3 times and was on the wrong end of 2 bad decisions. Woods got the last win making the match undesirable for him. If Tarver loses he would probably get a rematch with Woods or still get a match with Dawson despite losing.  A rematch with Jones would also be a good match. However, that would be a high risk low reward match for Jones, who would probably turn it down in favor of only doing a match that could main event a PPV. All of these scenarios leave Johnson as the odd man out in the division, and with no clear direction where to go next. He has the talent to beat the top boxers in the division, but there is no reason for them to face him. Allan Green might be a good potential opponent for Johnson. It appears Johnson may be stuck in the undercards of pay-per-views knocking out people who are not at his level for far less money then he deserves.

This match was great. It was the best of the weekend and one of the best of the year. It is worth going out of your way to find a replay of that match.