Back in April, boxing promoter Gary Shaw called Tampa light heavyweight Antonio Tarver and New Haven, Connecticut’s Chad Dawson to the front of the stage during a post-fight press conference. Standing inches apart, the two exchanged heated words and promised to one day meet in the ring.

According to Tarver, that day is coming – soon.

“We’re looking at October 11,” Tarver said in reference to a fight against Dawson. “We haven’t really finalized it yet, but it’s looking like Vegas is in the top of the running [for the venue].”

This is a fight that was close to being placed on the back burner after Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) knocked off Bernard Hopkins (48-5-1, 32 KOs) April 19. He since has inked a deal to fight Roy Jones Jr. at Madison Square Garden in September, spurning challenges from Tarver.

Shortly after Tarver (27-4, 19 KOs) beat England’s Clinton Woods (41-3-1, 24 KOs) April 12 for Woods’ IBF belt, he showed heavy interest in fighting Calzaghe, telling Dawson he may have to wait if something could be worked out with Calzaghe.

“I wanted him bad. He never answered my calls,” Tarver the IBO and IBF light heavyweight champion said of Calzaghe. “He avoided me like SARs.”

Dawson (26-0, 17 KOs) made himself a more appealing opponent, according to Tarver, after Dawson collected a somewhat controversial unanimous decision victory against Glenn Johnson on the undercard of the Tarver-Woods fight. Before then, Tarver said he wanted the 26-year-old Dawson to gain more experience.

“He didn’t deserve to be on the ring with me,” Tarver said. “He fought Glen Johnson. Now you’ve fought someone credible.”

Making the situation interesting is the fact WBC president José Sulaiman issued a press release Friday announcing Dawson gave up his WBC light heavyweight belt, which he won in his 2007 unanimous decision victory against Tomasz Adamek. At this early stage, it’s unclear which one of Tarver’s belts is up for grabs.

Tarver doesn’t appear worried, mentioning Dawson has been dubbed the future of the light heavyweight division. Tarver’s reply to Dawson’s title: “The future ain’t now.”

UPDATE
And just like that, Showtime confirms the fight will go down. Here’s the network’s press release…

BATTLE OF LIGHT HEAYWEIGHT CHAMPIONS;
TARVER vs. DAWSON SET FOR OCTOBER 11

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING
Saturday, October 11, LIVE at 9 p.m. ET/PT

NEW YORK (July 14, 2008) – Building upon its tradition of delivering the most evenly matched and significant fights in boxing, SHOWTIME Senior Vice President and General Manager, Sports and Event Programming Ken Hershman officially announced today the fight that boxing pundits and fans have been waiting for.  World champion Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver (27-4, 19 KOs) and undefeated “Bad” Chad Dawson (26-0, 17 KOs) will face off in a battle of light heavyweight kingpins on Saturday, Oct. 11 live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). 

“There’s been a ground-swell of anticipation for this fight for more than a year,” said Hershman. “Two of the pound-for-pound best going toe-to-toe—this is what SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is all about. Tarver-Dawson is yet another example of SHOWTIME delivering on our promise to televise the most meaningful and competitive match-ups in the sport.”

Tarver, the former undisputed light heavyweight world champion, is the only man to stick two losses on the professional resume of future Hall of Famer Roy Jones, Jr. 

After registering a definitive unanimous decision over the defending IBF 175-pound champion Clinton Woods on April 12 on SHOWTIME, Tarver is back on top of the deep light heavyweight division.

Dawson, of New Haven, Conn., is out to prove that he is the man to be at light heavyweight.  A ShoBox alum with speed, coordination and power, Dawson is considered by most industry insiders to be the next star of the star-studded division.

“SHOWTIME has had the opportunity to present Chad Dawson on his rise from unknown prospect to world champion,” Hershman said. “Now he’ll face a legendary and highly confident fighter in Antonio Tarver, who may be fighting the best he ever has. It’s a compelling fight on many levels.”

On the same night Tarver was dethroning Woods, Dawson successfully defended his WBC title against the hard-hitting and aggressive Glen Johnson. Albeit a difficult fight for the young champion, Dawson won the unanimous decision and showed his mettle against a heavy-handed adversary. 

After the fight, Tarver had some choice words for Dawson in front of a packed media center at the St. Pete Times Forum.

“Chad Dawson would be easy pickings now,’’ Tarver said. “He’s not the fighter now that he was before this fight (against Johnson). He’s a wounded duck.”

Tarver continued, “Dawson took a lot of hard punches against Johnson, but there is a difference between getting hit by Glen Johnson and getting hit by me.

Dawson had this to say: “Johnson is a warrior and we trained for that,’’ Dawson said after winning by scores of 116-112 on all the scorecards. “Glen is a great fighter. But I did my job and now it’s time to move on and fight the big names and the best fighters.

Upon agreeing to the Tarver fight, a clearly agitated Dawson added: “It’s about time he stepped up to the plate. He has finally stopped making excuses and it’s time we settle this.  After this fight, I’m going to perform my own trick – I’m going to make the Magic Man disappear.”

“Just like Roy Jones, Glen Johnson, Montell Griffin and Reggie Johnson, Dawson is going to become another world champion with a big ‘L’ on his record from me!,” Tarver said.