Dawson, Tarver in war of words

Chad Dawson went by the Palms the other day, saw his name and face on the marquee and smiled.

"To see that, it's a dream come true," he said.

Dawson, who will meet Antonio Tarver on Saturday at the Palms' Pearl Concert Theater for Tarver's IBF and IBO light heavyweight titles, wants to make his Las Vegas debut a memorable one. But this fight already might be memorable for the amount of trash talking that has taken place.

On Tuesday, the fighters had a contentious conference call with reporters, each trying to one-up the other with insults.

Tarver: "I got a lot of Chad Dawsons on my resume. He don't have not one Antonio Tarver."

Dawson: "He's old. He's slow. Talking ain't going to cut it."

Dawson (26-0, 17 knockouts) said he's tired of hearing Tarver run his mouth.

"At first, it wasn't genuine," he said of his dislike for Tarver (27-4, 19 KOs). "But he started running his mouth and kept running it. That's when it became personal.

"It's not a talk game. This ain't no debate. Come Oct. 11, when I put him on his butt, I'll have the last laugh."

Dawson, 26, who is working with trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad at Johnny Tocco's Gym, is a minus-240 favorite. He said he has enough experience to beat Tarver, 39.

"I may still be learning, but he don't have that much more experience than me," Dawson said. "I'm seeing things much better. I'm stronger. I'm better defensively. I've had a great camp for this fight."

The fight is part of a doubleheader on Showtime. The other fight is the WBC heavyweight title bout between Las Vegas' Samuel Peter and Vitali Klitschko at the new O2 Arena in Berlin.

The Peter-Klitschko fight will be shown in the Pearl for those who have tickets for Tarver-Dawson at about 6 p.m. Tickets, priced at $153, $303, $503 and $703, are available at the Palms' ticket office and through Ticketmaster.

• TARVER-DAWSON OFFICIALS -- Jay Nady has been selected to referee the Tarver-Dawson fight. Dave Moretti and C.J. Ross of Nevada and Max DeLuca of California will judge it.

The Nevada Athletic Commission granted Tarver a conditional license pending completion of his medical paperwork.

• NEW CHAIRMAN -- Bill Brady, 62, has been a commissioner for only 11 months. On Tuesday, the Las Vegas businessman was selected as John Bailey's replacement as chairman of the NAC.

The chairman's spot is rotated on an annual basis. Bailey, a two-time chairman, remains on the commission, but Brady will run meetings.

"I don't know if anyone's really ready for a job like this," Brady said. "But I'll work hard."

Bailey said Brady's biggest challenge in his new role will be keeping things under control.

"When something goes wrong, being able to articulate whether something was wrong, then address it in an appropriate manner will be critical," Bailey said. "I wouldn't say his lack of experience hinders him, but it makes it more of a challenge."

• YORY BOY LICENSED -- For the second time in 26 days, veteran middleweight Yory Boy Campas went before the NAC, seeking to be licensed after he initially was turned down Sept. 4.

Campas, 37, had new information Tuesday regarding his fitness to compete, an Aug. 21 neurological report from Mount Sinai Services in Los Angeles. The report said he was good to fight, and the commission reversed its prior decision and licensed him.

Why the Aug. 21 report wasn't included in his Sept. 4 application wasn't clear. But it was a critical factor in Campas being approved.

He might be cleared to fight in Nevada, but Campas doesn't know when he'll fight in Las Vegas again. According to Joe Diaz, his manager and trainer, Campas is not guaranteed a spot on the Golden Boy card Nov. 22 when Ricky Hatton meets Paulie Malignaggi at the MGM Grand Garden.

Campas initially was to appear on the undercard of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Joel Casamayor fight Sept. 13 at the Grand Garden but was unable to compete when his license request was denied.

When asked why he would go to the trouble to have Campas licensed in Nevada when there's no fight for him here, Diaz said: "This would have been a black eye for his record. We had to clear the record."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.