Chad Dawson vs. Antonio Tarver II: Round By Round

Tonight's HBO broadcast features the rematch between Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver live from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. First up is a replay of the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton fight - all two rounds of it - from last Saturday.

The 26-year old Dawson won the first fight easily, claiming the IBF and IBO light heavyweight belts. His record now stands at 27-0 with 17 KOs.

Tarver is now 40 years old but has a well deserved reputation for performing better in rematches, having avenged losses to Roy Jones Jr., Glen Johnson and Eric Harding over the course of his career. He is 27-5 with 19 KOs.

Jim Lampley, Emanuel Steward and Max Kellerman are the announce team tonight, and they discuss Manny's win, the Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez fight and the possibility of Manny and Floyd facing off. Kellerman says if they meet, it will be the most historically significant fight since Pernell Whitaker and Julio Cesar Chavez met in 1993.

As for tonight's business at hand, Steward says Dawson will have to be better tonight than he was the first time because Tarver will be better prepared. Kellerman thinks Dawson will want to impress fans and observers as well as win the fight.

A nice video package shows Dawson with his family, including his wife and three kids.

The tale of the tape shows the two fighters are almost identical in height, reach and weight. The 14-year age difference is the only thing that stands out.

Tarver comes out first in what is for him a fairly subdued walk to the ring. Dawson enters second, and not surprisingly - the first fight was said to have sold under 1,000 tickets - it sounds pretty dead in the arena.

Michael Buffer handles the introductions and we're all set to go.

Round 1

Both fighters come out testing their jabs. Dawson doubles up on his. Nice three-punch combo by Dawson. He connects with a right hook. Dawson tries body shots with both hands. Now Tarver comes forward and misses some clubbing left hands. Dawson's hand speed is giving Tarver some pause early on. Chad evades a combination from Tarver. Antonio tries a four-punch combo that mostly misses.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 2

Tarver backs away from a big left hand. Jabs fly both ways. Both of these guys are just good enough defensively to make things a little boring. Dawson backs Tarver into the ropes and peppers some body shots. Dawson's jab has some snap to it. More body work by Chad. Quick left upstairs by Tarver; Dawson answers with his own. Tarver is blocking a lot of punches with his arms. Dawson gets a warning for hitting after the bell.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 3

Antonio tries a little more aggression to start this frame. Dawson scores with a right-left combo in the center of the ring. Chad tries a body-head attack. Tarver flurries but Dawson blocks most of it. Chad goes into a shell as Tarver switches to an orthodox stance. Tarver's punches don't have much steam behind them, but he is outworking Dawson for the time being. Chad seemed to take the second half of that round off.

Franchise: 10-9 Tarver
Uatu: 10-9 Tarver

Round 4

Dawson comes out swinging for the fences. He throws a nice four-punch combo and gets one or two through. Tarver tries some weak jabs. He lands a decent left hand to the head while following up. Dawson shrugs off a left hook and comes forward. They stand and trade and Chad gets the best of it. Dawson lands a sharp left over the top. Now Chad goes downstairs in the corner. Tarver lands a few good punches of his own before the bell.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 5

Chad storms out of the gate again, but Tarver weathers it and comes forward. Dawson eats a pretty strong left during an exchange. Antonio clubs a right hand from in close. They tie up a couple times and Tarver scores coming out. Dawson covers up as Antonio flurries. Nice uppercut inside by Dawson. Right hook by Dawson as he has Tarver backed against the ropes. That was better than any round from their first fight.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 6

Tarver misses with a big left. Dawson digs in and unleashes along the ropes. Tarver appears he may be trying to draw him in. Chad goes left to the head and right to the body. Tarver covers up so Dawson goes to the body multiple times. Right hook by Tarver is answered immediately. Dawson ducks his way out of trouble in the corner.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 7

Dawson's corner tells him not to forget his jab. He delivers a series of sharp jabs. Both men may be a little bloody around the mouth. More jabs from Dawson and a left to the body. Body shots crash home from Dawson, and Tarver can't find any openings in this round. Chad smothers Antonio along the ropes. Tarver lands a couple of nice left hands as they trade in the center of the ring.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 8

Tarver has a little more pep in his step, but Dawson stands his ground and throws combinations right back. They lean on each other until the ref intervenes. Jabs again from both fighters. More wrestling slows down the pace. Dawson backs away and avoids some left hands, then goes to the body. Tarver shoots a left hand up top off his jab. Not too much of real importance landed in that round.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Tarver

Round 9

Dawson immediately goes to work with body and head shots. Chad scores with a right hook in the corner, but Tarver tries to come back with left hands. Kellerman doesn't think Dawson is doing anything to entice Joe Calzaghe or Bernard Hopkins into a future fight. Right hook from Dawson. Chad fires uppercuts and one may have found the mark.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 10

Good footwork is on display as Dawson evades for the first 30 seconds. Tarver tries to walk him down but can't find the mark. Dawson strikes with triple jabs. Dawson eats a left and walks away. Tarver throws a bunch of jabs but can't follow with anything. Dawson throws a right hook and flurries to the body. Both men score in the closing seconds but nothing huge.

Franchise: 10-9 Tarver
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 11

Dawson shows more fire to start this round. Tarver backs him off and he runs in a circle. Tarver stalks and has trouble scoring. Dawson is warned for a low shot as he flurries. Nice quick right by Chad. Tarver lands a series of jabs and a left uppercut. Chad misses a big right and Tarver is right back on him. They stand and trade for a bit in the center.

Franchise: 10-9 Tarver
Uatu: 10-9 Tarver

Round 12

We'll see if either boxer really lays it all on the line in the final round. Dawson is going for broke early on. Tarver holds on and starts throwing back. Kellerman thinks a knockdown by Antonio could make the scores interesting. Chad throws two shots and covers up. Tarver tries to flurry but Dawson charges through it. There's 45 seconds to go and Dawson ties up. Tarver flurries and tries to work his left hand free. Antonio tries to steal the round in the last 10 seconds. We'll go to the scorecards.

Franchise: 10-9 Tarver
Uatu: 10-9 Tarver

Franchise and Uatu score it 116-112 for Dawson.

The judges score it 116-112 and 117-111 twice, all for the winner... and still IBF light heavyweight champion... "Bad" Chad Dawson.

Dawson says he felt a little out of his element and gives Tarver credit for throwing him off his game a bit. He sounds like he wasn't expecting Tarver to push the fight to him as much.

Chad ducks the Glen Johnson question from Kellerman just a bit. Asked about fading in the second half of fights, Dawson says he needs to watch the tapes to find out what's happening.