Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles California the boxing world witnessed a great Light Heavyweight bout. It's too bad that both guys couldn't win; the bout was a treat to watch as a fan. The fight was extremely close, and I personally thought Tarver did win by the slightest of margins but not enough to create any long, drawn out debate.

The fight started out just as I anticipated with Glen Johnson coming right out and jumping all over Tarver as he did against Roy Jones Jr. Johnson set a blistering pace in the first round and clearly won the round.

The second round would be a little different as Tarver would start to find his range on Johnson and suddenly the pace started to slow down. It appeared now that Tarver was in control of the flow of action, as he landed the harder and the cleaner punches. For the next three rounds it appeared as though Tarver had found the remedy to beating Johnson. Then all of a sudden Johnson seemed to recharged or rejuvenated as he went back on his nonstop attack, once again taking back control of the flow of action and putting Tarver back into defensive mode.

From round five until round nine the fight appeared to have an even flow, one  fighter winning one round, then the other fighter would win a round. In the tenth round for some reason it appeared as if Tarver decided to take a rest, or maybe the fact that he was forced to raise his punch output to a level higher than usual caused him to be a little fatigued. Johnson really picked up the pace again while Tarver was looking for one big shot to change things. Johnson wasn't having it as he dominated Tarver throughout the round. When Tarver got back to the corner his trainer Buddy McGirt told him he needed to pick up the pace he was being out worked.

The eleventh round was almost a repeat of the tenth, and although Tarver did assert himself a little more, got back to using his jab and often found a place for his left hand on Johnson's face, still he was out worked.

The twelfth and final round, and the I.B.O. title at stake, but more importantly, the claim for Light Heavyweight supremacy hanging in the balance since both fighters decided to relinquish their more familiar world title belts. Tarver set the pace, it was almost a roll reversal, as Tarver became the aggressor and threw punches in very high volume to secure his claim as the best Light Heavyweight in the world. It appeared that he had done just that as he easily won two minutes and thirty seconds of the final round.

Tarver had given his all and was clearly exhausted and Johnson would close the show with a strong finish. That thirty-second push might very well swayed the decision Johnson's way. No matter who won it was a great fight to watch. You have to love Johnson, who although now at the top of the Light Heavyweight throne, in his post-fight interview reiterated he is still not the best but still trying to find that one special guy he's yet to defeat. It doesn't get much better than that.

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