Unbeaten Dawson outpoints Tarver

Dawson beat Glen Johnson on points in April

American Chad Dawson extended his perfect record to 27 wins as he beat veteran Antonio Tarver on points to claim the IBF light-heavyweight crown.

Having vacated the WBC version of the belt in order to face 39-year-old Tarver, Dawson dominated throughout to claim a unanimous decision.

The 26-year-old had Tarver down in the final round as two of the judges scored the fight 117-110, the third 108-109.

Former champion Tarver's record slipped to 27 wins and five defeats.

Tarver went into the fight as champion having stopped Sheffield's Clinton Woods in March to claim the belt, but he had no answer to Dawson's speed and movement.

606: DEBATE What's next for Dawson? I think facing the winner of Pavlik v Hopkins would be his best bet greenyox3

Dawson took almost complete control in the middle rounds, scoring easily with his jab, before finally putting his opponent down a minute into the final round with an uppercut.

Fellow American Tarver claimed the knockdown was more of a slip, though he remained gracious in defeat.

"It was a slip or a push on the knockdown - it wasn't a 10-8 round," Tarver said.

"He threw a lot of punches. His work rate was a lot today. At the end I had to gut it out, I felt like I was behind. We tried to score the big knockout, and it didn't come."

Tarver questioned the quality of Dawson's previous opponents before the fight, but Dawson claimed that the comments did not act as extra motivation.

"(Tarver's comments) were not on my mind during the fight," he said.