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Tarver regains IBO title by defeating Muriqi

Antonio Tarver, right, lands a punch on Elvir Muriqi during their IBO light heavyweight title fight at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut, on Saturday. Tarver won the fight in a 12-round decision. PHOTO: AP

Antonio Tarver regained the IBO light-heavyweight title on Saturday night, winning a 12-round decision over a game Elvir Muriqi.

His next opponent could be undefeated 24-year-old Chad Dawson, who successfully defended his WBC light-heavyweight title on the same card, stopping Mexico's Jesus "Chuy" Ruiz in the sixth round.

"I'll take on anyone," Tarver said. "I'm the champ. Find me anyone who will fight me."

The 38-year-old Tarver (25-4) hadn't fought since losing the title convincingly in a lackluster fight against Bernard Hopkins a year ago. Tarver's only performance since then was opposite Sylvester Stallone as fictional heavyweight champion Mason Dixon in Rocky Balboa.

He found someone to give him a fight on Saturday. Muriqi (34-4) was the early aggressor, working the body in the early rounds, but occasionally walking into a Tarver left hand.

Tarver used his height advantage and longer reach to keep Muriqi away with the right jab.

Tarver seemed to take control after opening up a cut over Muriqi's right eye with an uppercut in the fifth round.

By the eighth round, Tarver was clearly the aggressor, hitting Muriqi with a hard left 56 seconds in, following that up with a flurry 30 seconds later and staggering Muriqi with a hard right cross at the 2:13 mark.

He punished Muriqi early in the 10th, staggering him with a straight left and going to work on him in the challenger's corner. But Muriqi would not go down.

The two fighters battled across the ring in the 11th, trading hard combinations, as Muriqi's fans chanted his name and Tarver's chanted "USA! USA!" At one point, Tarver spun himself around while missing a left hook.

Muriqi put Tarver on the ropes in the final round, but Tarver responded with several uppercuts and combinations of his own.

Muriqi danced away the final few seconds with his arms in the air, believing he had won.

"He didn't hurt me," Muriqi said. "I won the fight."

The judges disagreed, giving the fight to Tarver 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112.

Muriqi, 24, is a former kickboxer and New York Golden Gloves champion.

Before Saturday, his biggest fight was a three-round technical knockout of Sammy Ahmad in 2002, a fight in which Muriqi was knocked down four times and Ahmad twice.

Dawson (24-0, 16 KOs), who took the WBC crown from a previously unbeaten Tomasz Adamek in February, was making his first title defense. The champion was in control throughout, using his right jab to set up his straight left, which he threw effectively over the right hand of Ruiz (19-5).

By the middle of the fourth round Dawson had bloodied Ruiz's nose and a right hook at the end of that round stunned the challenger.

"He couldn't stop my jab," Dawson said. "It was just too fast."
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