Reports: Dawson-Tarver Postponed, Bradley-Holt Face Off in Montreal

Looking forward to seeing the rematch between Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver? You'll have to wait longer than March 14.

As reported by multiple outlets Wednesday, Dawson injured a ligament in his right hand, forcing the fight to be postponed.

Gary Shaw told ESPN's Dan Rafael that Dawson is expected to be out of action for two weeks, making him ready to fight again my mid-April. Of course, rescheduling the bout might not be quite that simple, as HBO is already set with boxing on April 11 (Paul Williams vs. Winky Wright), April 25 (Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Gerry Penalosa) and May 2 (Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton on pay-per-view).

It's doubtful that the 40-year old Tarver has much choice but to wait it out. As unlikely as a win in the rematch would seem after he was dominated in the first fight, it may be his last shot at getting any more big fights.

Dawson's future is much brighter, but as the lone young star in a division of 40-somethings, he's lacking an obvious big money alternative. He may have not been crazy about taking the rematch - and I'm not alone saying I'm not especially excited to watch it - yet it's probably also best for him to have it rescheduled for later in 2009.

An interesting sidenote for fans of The Contender: Dawson hurt himself sparring with A.K. Laleye, a Season Four semifinalist who was preparing to fight on the undercard of the show's live finale at Foxwoods next week.

Elsewhere, the AP reports that it was a spirited press conference in Montreal to promote the April 4 140-pound fight between Timothy Bradley and Kendall Holt. Bradley brings in the WBC belt and Holt the WBO strap to unify titles in a division that will soon inherit both Manny Pacquiao (at least temporarily) and Nate Campbell.

In terms of atmosphere, Montreal ranks right up there in terms of current boxing sites. The fans are lively and the venues always seem to pull out all the stops to put on a show.

With respect to professionalism and technical competency... not so much. In just the last few months, we've seen hometown hero Lucian Bute benefit from a questionable refereeing move and the sport's longest round take place when Round 11 between Herman Ngoudjo and Juan Urango went more than five minutes.

Hopefully we'll see the good side of Montreal and not the bad when Bradley and Holt step in the ring.