Klitschko, Dawson Wins: Good for Boxing

Some fights you watch as a fan of one fighter or the other. Some fights you don't care who wins. Then there are the fights you watch where your rooting interest is driven by what's best for the sport. They don't come all that often but Saturday night's Showtime doubleheader featured a pair of 'best interest of boxing' bouts.

First up was former champ Vitali Klitschko coming back after nearly four years to challenge Samuel Peter for the WBC title. Vitali may not be as physically talented as younger brother Wladimir but he's a lot more entertaining to watch. Samuel Peter has tremendous raw power and should be fun to watch but crude boxing skills combined with poor conditioning make him just another over-hyped heavyweight pretender. Klitschko showed no signs of ring rust and dominated Peter from the opening bell. After eight completely one-sided rounds, Peter quit on his stool. A Klitschko win is good for boxing because he proved that - when healthy - he's still one of the best heavyweights in the world and he's never in a boring fight. Vitali Klitschko's return may block Wladimir from unifying all the heavyweight belts but boxing politics were probably going to prevent it anyway. Bottom line: The heavyweight division is better with an active Vitali Klitschko.

The co-feature had light heavyweights Antonio Tarver and Chad Dawson squaring off in what fight fans should hope was a 'passing of the torch' from a protagonist of the division's recent past to the best prospect for its immediate future. Tarver is an undeniably talented fighter but his professional career will basically be remembered for a single punch - the one that knocked out Roy Jones Jr. in 2004. Other than that, his career has been underwhelming - filled with fights where he appeared unwilling to take any risks to back up his bold pre-fight trashtalking. Tarver, 39, appears to be at the end of the line as he had no answers for Dawson's tremendous combination of speed and power. Dawson controlled the action throughout, scored a knockdown in the final round and earned a unanimous decision (118-109 and 117-110 twice). A Dawson win is good for boxing because he's got the skills to crack the pound-for-pound top ten and the willingness - as demonstrated in this fight - to make his case for greatness with his fists. Tarver always preferred to tell us how great he was ... rather than prove it in the ring.

With any luck, Kelly Pavlik will keep the 'good for boxing' streak alive next weekend by not only beating Bernard Hopkins, but by knocking him into retirement.