Dawson pursuing some lofty goals.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES, BOXING

Chad Dawson is only 26 but he has accomplished quite a bit during a professional career that began nearly eight years ago. Dawson is 26-0 with 17 knockouts and has won two of the four light heavyweight championship belts.

But he wants a lot more, and he figures one way to get more is to put another victory over former champion Antonio Tarver tonight at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The two will square off in the main event. HBO will televise the fight and will also show a replay of last Saturday's Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton fight won by Pacquiao with a one-punch knockout in the second round.

"I still haven't reached my full potential yet," said Dawson, of New Haven, Conn. "When I get the big fights I want, when I beat Antonio Tarver - and I'm going to beat him again - I'll be looking for Bernard Hopkins and getting Joe Calzaghe out of retirement.

"Those are the fights that are meaningful to me and the public."

Hopkins is 44, but he is still considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He is coming off a lopsided victory over Kelly Pavlik last October.

Calzaghe is 37 and he recently announced his retirement after posting a lifetime record of 46-0 with 32 knockouts. Calzaghe fought most of his career at super middleweight, but in his second-to-last fight he moved up to light heavyweight and won a split decision over Hopkins in April 2008.

"The chances? I don't know what the chances are," said Dawson, when asked about luring Calzaghe out of retirement. "Hopefully he will be watching (tonight) and he will see something that will make him think, 'Maybe I didn't retire as the best light heavyweight.'

"Maybe he will say, 'I'm looking at the best light heavyweight right now,' and hopefully that will bring him out of retirement and he will give me a shot."

Dawson said he is uncertain whether Hopkins wants any part of him.

Dawson is a southpaw, he's fast and he's powerful.

"I'm not sure because I heard him make a statement that he wasn't interested in fighting me," Dawson said of Hopkins. "He makes all these excuses saying that I'm not ready, that I don't have a name.

"And maybe after Saturday he will see that I am the best light heavyweight in the world."

Dawson's manager, Mike Criscio, said that in his mind there is a better chance that Calzaghe will come back than there is of Hopkins stepping up to the plate.

"I think he is going to unretire," Criscio said of Calzaghe. "I think he is going to miss boxing and want to come back. As far as Hopkins is concerned, what I personally think is Hopkins is afraid of Chad. I think if he goes into the ring he knows Chad will be way too quick for him and I think Chad will take him out early."

But, Criscio said, Hopkins might eventually feel like he has no choice but to fight Dawson.

"If he gets enough pressure from HBO and the media, he is going to have to fight Chad," he said.

Dawson had already won one championship belt when he took Tarver's via unanimous decision last October at Palms Casino in Las Vegas. Dawson won by seven, seven and nine points.

Of course, Tarver would have us believe that he was soundly defeated by Dawson because he was not in tune to the task at hand.

"When I'm determined, I'm definitely a hard guy to beat," said Tarver, 40. "I'm focused and determined."

Tarver (27-5, 19 KOs) has fought Roy Jones Jr. three times, winning two. After he nearly beat Jones in their first fight in November 2003, Jones made excuses for a fight many thought he lost.

His biggest was that he had to come down from heavyweight after having moved up and taken John Ruiz's title there.

Before their second fight, Tarver said to Jones during the referee instructions, "What excuse are you going to have tonight, Roy?"

Yet, Tarver has lost three times since that loss to Jones and every time he has made an excuse. Dawson wouldn't go so far as to call Tarver a hypocrite, but ...

"That's just the type of guy he is," Dawson said. "First of all, what else can Tarver do? He is killing himself to make weight. That is his biggest problem right there. He is sucking weight right now.

"You can't keep sucking weight and think you are going to come back 100 percent.

"In my opinion he is going to go in there and get a butt-whooping.

"I don't think there is anything else he can do to improve on the last fight. He is 40 and I'm just coming into my own."

That, he is.

Miranda-Ward winner could get title shot

Dan Goossen said it best this week when assessing Andre Ward's fight against heavy-handed Edison Miranda next Saturday in Ward's hometown of Oakland.

"We're looking at this as Andre's coming-out party, not only in Oakland, but to the world for 168-pound supremacy," said Goossen, who promotes Ward, who won the United States' only gold medal in the 2004 Olympic Games.

"Let's face it, he's taking on a tough nut to make this statement. But that's what it's all about. No risk, no reward."

Ward and Miranda will square off at Oracle Arena. Showtime will televise the Goossen Tutor Promotions event.

Miranda, of Colombia, is 32-3 with 28 knockouts. The former top-rated middleweight contender is now ranked in the top 10 as a super middleweight, as is Ward, making this a fight that could lead to a title shot for the winner.

For Miranda, Ward may not be his most difficult opponent. Miranda has lost twice to former middleweight champion Arthur Abraham and to

middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik.

"No, Andre is not the toughest fighter I've ever fought," Miranda said. "Howard Eastman is."

That's funny because Abraham knocked out Miranda in their second fight and Pavlik also stopped Miranda, who knocked out Eastman.

But for Ward (18-0, 12 KOs), there doesn't seem to be any doubt that Miranda will be his toughest foe to date.

"Absolutely, on paper," Ward said. "I put emphasis on paper. We won't know until I get in the ring on May 16. I think I'm going to be a lot tougher than he thinks I'm going to be.

"I don't have any predictions, but I can guarantee you this: I'm coming into this fight, even though I'm in my hometown, I'm the underdog in my mind. ... That's how I prepared, that's how my focus is. I'm going to shock a lot of people in this fight."

Ward had no prediction during a conference call. But Miranda did.

"I'm going to knock him out," Miranda said, "in the 10th round."

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Chad Dawson, right, fighting Glen Johnson in a 2008 bout, meets Antonio Tarver in a rematch tonight between light heavyweights.

John Gichigi/Getty Images

(2) Andre Ward