posted April 11, 2008 at 16:56 in Other Articles

On Saturday night online boxing bettors will have their sights set on Tampa, Florida resident Glen Johnson, who has been through just about everything a fighter can go through, will go to the well one more time when he challenges Chad Dawson for the WBC light heavyweight (175-pound) title in a scheduled 12-rounder that will be part of a Showtime pay-per-view show.

BetUS Boxing Betting Odds

WBC Light Heavyweight (175-pound) Title

April 12 -- Tampa, FL

CHAD DAWSON -350

GLEN JOHNSON +250

OVER 11.5 ROUNDS -400

UNDER 11.5 ROUNDS +250

For betting purposes, let's size up the contestants:

DAWSON (25-0, 1 NC, 17 KO's), the -350 favorite in the BetUS boxing betting odds, is from Connecticut, and has experienced a relative straight line to a world title. He won the NABF championship in June of 2006 with a decision over Eric Harding, and that put him in position to fight for the WBC title, which he won eight months later over Tomasz Adamek in a decision that came by margins of six, eight and ten points. He has had one title defense, stopping Epifanio Mendoza, a fringe contender, in four rounds, that was in September of '07, and he hasn't fought since.

JOHNSON (47-11-2, 32 KO's), the +250 underdog at BetUS, has been down much more of a long and winding road. But that didn't start until he had breezed through his first 32 bouts as a highly-regarded prospect. Johnson got a shot at the middleweight title against Bernard Hopkins in July of 1997 and was stopped in the eleventh round of a fight Hopkins dominated. He then fell into a pattern where he would lose close, controversial decisions to "house" fighters. One of these was a split decision to Joe Kiwanuka in the Palace of Auburn Hills in August of '98, and that was followed over time by defeats to Sven Ottke in Germany, Silvio Branco in Italy and Julio Cesar Gonzalez in Los Angeles, just to name a few. In February of 2004 he beat Clinton Woods on a decision, winning the IBF 175-pound crown and avenging an earlier draw. His shining moment was a ninth-round KO of Roy Jones in September of 2004, and not far behind that was a decision over Antonio Tarver three months later. He subsequently lost decisions to Tarver and Woods, and last saw action in January, stopping Hugo Pineda in eight rounds.

So is Dawson the "future" of the light heavyweight division, just because his promoters, Showtime, and some members of the media tell us so? There is no question that Dawson has talent, but what is glaring about his record, when you take a closer look, is that he has not really been tested all that often. In fact, there are only two fighters on his record who have ever been recognized as a world champion - one of those was the well-worn Carl Daniels, and the other was Adamek, who was a paper champ at best.

I don't want to disparage him that much, because he is fundamentally sound, has some power, and has basically done everything he was supposed to do. But at the same time, with limited experience against true world-class opposition, he fits the profile of a fighter who could encounter some 'culture shock" if someone is able to throw some curve balls at him. I don't expect Johnson, who is one of the most experienced fighters in the ring today, to have much trouble adjusting to a southpaw, and I happen to know that this is a guy who keeps himself in such spartan shape, and always has, that it mitigates the effects of being 39 years old.

It would not be surprising at all to see that Johnson is able to move just a bit to th left or right to throw Dawson off, and as the fight progresses, the "old man" might actually become the stronger man in the fight. Whereas Dawson has been into the tenth round only four times, Johnson does that kind of thing in his sleep, and I believe that he will be patient and somewhere along the line he will land a punch or two that might change the course of this fight somehow. He provides value at the price of +250 in the BetUS boxing betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: JOHNSON (+250) **

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

Betting on boxing has never been so easy and you can get your bets in now in the BetUS sportsbook. Go to Other Sports: Boxing. Find tons of props on the fight and the fighters in the Future / props section as well!

(Charles Jay of www.eBookies.com is a former manager, matchmaker and color commentator in professional boxing. He currently pulls no punches in the BetUS Locker Room)