Anyone out there still believe Tarver was more of a threat to Dawson than Diaconu

...would have been?

Where was the power? Where was the aggressiveness? Where was the killer instinct when he had him hurt in the 3rd? :conf

Where was the counterpunching? Where was the pressure that some posters, for some strange reason, expected to see from Tarver...?

Tarver's old; he just cannot pull the trigger anymore; he hasn't been able to pull the trigger for a while now.:deal

Yeah, maybe Diaconu wouldn't have lasted 12 rounds, but he sure as hell would have had a higher chance of hurting and stopping Dawson than Tarver did.

:yep

Very good performance by Dawson. I think he's matured a bit and kept to the plan, which is good news for the future.

I scored it 117-108 to Dawson.

And no excuses from Tarver either, just like he promissed.

Time for Tarver to take his retirement money and call it a day. Dawson got his leg-up and is on the way to becoming a star, just as Showtime and Gary show planned for him.

People who picked Tarver not only underrated Dawson a little bit, but they also very much overrated Tarver.

And now, you all know why Dawson preferred to give up a title and a million dollars to duck Diaconu, when he could just polish off Tarver almost risk-free instead, without needing to fight Diaconu first. It is because on the basis of his performance against Tarver he is being called p4p No. 1 already, whereas if he had got KOed by Diaconu (Who??), he'd have been relegated to the ranks of the also-ran champs, who made a few defences but never had it to make it to the top.

Boxing is a business. Dawson is the product that Showtime and Shaw are packaging nicely for us with the p4p ribbon attached, and we are buying it. Why would they want to take a chance with such a great-looking product, when they don't have to? Is it not better to make that product look even better risk-free and sell it for even more?

Dawson's made it. He's an untouchable now. From now on, he'll be able to pick and choose even more than before. He's p4p No.1. It's official. He's a legend and an ATG in the making. All because he beat Johnson and outclassed Tarver more than anyone out there, ever.

 

Isn't it strangely appropriate that the man who crowned Dawson as p4p No.1 last night was Mayweather himself...the man who claimed he was the best in the world when he didn't even have the guts to fight one of the best three in his own division: Margarito, Williams or Cotto.

Now that Dawson is p4p No. 1 because he beat a top p4p fighter in Johnson and the p4p No.1, Tarver, does it mean he no longer has to fight anyone in his own division? Is he going to fight de la Hoya next? Or Holyfield, perhaps, at cruiser...?

Or will he perhaps retire, now that he's the best; after all, who else out there is proven enough to deserve a shot at the Champ?