Tarver vs. Dawson II

Maybe because they'd lose their '0' not about the actual pain of the fight...

 

Dawson doesn't have a choice. Unfortunately, he also is out of options. After Tarver, where's he going to go? The clause actually was not immediate, but from his perspective, why wait?

HBO overpaid for this fight, for sure. I just hope he trains properly, wins impressively and is able to lure Calzaghe out of inactivity.

 

Fighters want big paydays. You're not going to argue that Dawson has chosen the path of the protected, are you?

Harding, Adamek, Johnson, Tarver X2 and was all set to face Diaconu as well. And he's only 26. What more do you want from him?

 

Isn't he 27?

Anyway I like Dawson I'm not saying he is protected he's done well up until now, but Calzaghe in my eyes would beat him comfortably and take his '0'

 

Exactly, paydays - and plenty of them.

Why risk all that stock with a fight against Calzaghe, which he has a good chance of losing, when he could avoid him and continue winning against other good fighters, and remain unbeaten and secure a lot more big paydays in the future.

The risk with the Calzaghe fight is he's cashing in on 1 big payday. If he loses - and loses badly - he's putting big future paydays in serious jeopardy.

 

He's 26 and turns 27 in July. I know because his birthday is two days after mine.

I'd favor Calzaghe to beat him as well, but not comfortably. And I'm sure Dawson would happily take the big payday and his shot at glory.

 

That's what he'll need to do. Just winning won't be enough- he'll need to do it in more impressive fashion than the first time around and at least as bad as Hopkins beat Tarver because the perception (and I believe it's the reality, too) is that Chad's still on the way up and Tarver's finished as a top fighter. Dawson can't afford to not look spectacular if he's going to draw a Calzaghe (or Hopkins) fight as well as a wider audience for himself. Looking the same as last time won't get it done even though it was a one sided fight- simply put, he needs a buzz-worthy beatdown to increase his profile quickly.

 

I don't believe this is true. If he goes to Wales and loses a lopsided decision, odds are he won't get truly battered. And he'd be at most 27 at that time, so people would argue he lost to a legend and maybe wasn't quite at peak just yet.

And the exposure would be great for him. Losing to Calzaghe hasn't hurt Mikkel Kessler at all, as HBO is trying to do everything it can to get him back on the air.

 

Agreed. He needs to KO.

 

If anything Kessler getting a competitive loss is regarded by boxng fans as the best thing he's done, so it doesn't always hurt your career. Although, no one will touch Kessler with a barge poll at 168.

 

did Tarver activate the rematch clause? Because if he did, that makes him a total *******.

 

I'd favor Dawson, and because of that I don't think the fight will happen, I mean if Dawson wins all the attention will be on Dawson. Calzaghe wants one more "farewell" fight and he wants it a winnable fight where all the attention is on him.

 

Kessler wasn't built up to Dawson's level though. It would be a hammer blow to him and US boxing if he loses a lopsided decision.

It can go either way really, either the Kessler route as you mentioned, and he's fine, or the Lacy route. I know he's nowhere near as talented as Dawson, but he was made out to be, and he's been ruined ever since.

 

What would be the point of having a rematch clause if you weren't going to activate it? Tarver is just feathering his retirement nest at this point, I'm not going to criticise him for that.

As I said earlier, Dawson had the choice of facing Diaconu once followed by Tarver once. He chose instead to vacate his belt, leaving Tarver as his only credible opponent, and therefore handed all the negotiating cards to Tarver. Tarver could then say 'I want paying for two fights' and insist on the rematch clause and Dawson had to agree because he had nowhere else left to go.

That this second fight is happening is a result of the decisions Dawson has made.

 

Tarver wasn't anywhere near knocking out Dawson, what makes you believe he'll KO Dawson this time around? :roll: