BOXING

• Dawson edges Johnson to keep WBC's 175-pound belt

  
  

  By Lyle Fitzsimmons Register correspondent

  Tampa, FL (Sports Network) - Chad Dawson's sharpest blow came about 10 minutes after his fight ended Saturday.

  With boos raining down from a near-capacity crowd at the St. Pete Times Forum -- audibly upset at the verdict allowing the New Haven resident to retain his WBC light heavyweight title -- Dawson dismissed any thought of an immediate re-do with punishing Miami-based challenger Glen Johnson.

  "I'm staying at 175 pounds," he said. And I'm not that interested in a rematch at this time."

  Based on the perpetual punishment he'd sustained over the previous 36 minutes, it was hard to blame him.

  The 25-year-old Dawson, in the third defense of a belt he'd claimed in Florida 14 months earlier, scored well early and survived well late en route to a unanimous, albeit unpopular, decision over the 39-year-old Johnson in the first half of a championship doubleheader broadcast live on Showtime.

  Now 26-0 in a near seven-year pro career, Dawson has the inside track to a shot at overall light heavyweight supremacy against Tampa resident Antonio Tarver, who unified the IBO and IBF titles with a unanimous verdict over English import Clinton Woods in Saturday night?s main event.

  The WBA's light heavyweight title is vacant.

  "We knew Glen Johnson was a warrior and we trained that way," said Dawson, who earned across-the-board nods of 116-112 from judges Nicolas Hidalgo of Venezuela, Peter Trematerra of Florida and Jack Woodburn of Montreal. "We worked on stepping around him and boxing him. Glen is a great fighter and he caught me with some good shots, but I took them.

  "I executed my game plan and I landed more punches."

  Needless to say, Johnson, a native Jamaican who held the IBF and IBO titles in 2004-05 and scored a memorable ninth-round knockout of one-time light heavyweight kingpin Roy Jones Jr., disagreed.

  "Of all the tough losses I've had in big fights, this is the worst one," he said.

  "At my age, I can't afford to lose fights like this anymore. I hurt him several times. Of course, I want a rematch. Decisions like this aren't good for boxing. I wish I could protest."

  Johnson is 47-12-2.

  In the second fight, Tarver, who turned 39 in November, was clearly sharper and more efficient with his punches than Woods, who was making his first appearance on U.S. soil.

  A two-time conqueror of Jones and the winner in one of two bouts with Johnson, Tarver earned the unanimous verdict by scores of 116-112, 117-111 and 119-109.

  "It's all about the belts," Tarver said. "I want all the belt-holders.

  "Chad Dawson, right now, is easy pickins. He's not the fighter that he was before tonight. He got hit by Glen Johnson. Getting hit by Glen Johnson is different than getting hit by Antonio Tarver.

  "He's a wounded duck."

  Throughout its 12 mostly action-filled rounds, the initial bout was a collision of styles that pitted the quicker and more athletic Dawson against the insistent and perpetual plod-ahead Johnson.

  Dawson scored well in the early rounds with snapping single punches and well- placed flurries, though Johnson successfully weathered the initial storms and began scoring the more significant and damaging blows in the middle rounds.

  The best three minutes of the fight came in the 10th, when Johnson landed a booming overhand right that buckled Dawson?s knees and left him sagging near the ropes alongside Johnson?s corner.

  The veteran was unable to land another seriously damaging blow amid his follow-up flurry, however, and Dawson actually closed the round with a scoring, if not particularly punishing, flurry along the ropes.

  Dawson rebounded gamely in the 11th and essentially sealed the decision, finally backing the sturdy Johnson up with a sweeping right hand two minutes into the session. Johnson pressed forward and won the 12th against a clearly tiring champion, but never again seriously hurt Dawson.

  Lyle Fitzsimmons is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He is a periodic contributor to the Dave Smith Show on Sporting News Radio (radio.sportingnews.com), provides 'In The Ring' boxing commentary for Speeding Bullet Network (speedingbulletnetwork.com) and can be contacted via e-mail at fitzbitz@msn.com.

  04/13 00:46:14 ET