New York, NY (Sportsbooks) - Clinton Woods will put his IBF light heavyweight title on the line against IBO title holder Antonio Tarver on April 12 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida.
The card, which will be televised by Showtime, includes another light heavyweight battle between WBC champion Chad Dawson and former champ Glen Johnson.
Woods, who owns a record of 41-3-1 with 24 knockouts, has won six consecutive bouts since losing to Johnson in February 2004. He avenged that defeat with a split decision victory in September 2006, and won his most recent bout last September against Julio Cesar Gonzalez.
This will be Woods' fifth title defense. The 35-year-old British native captured the IBF crown with a fifth-round TKO of Rico Hoye in March 2005.
Tarver, at age 39, owns a record of 26-4 with 19 knockouts. He has won two straight fights since dropping a unanimous decision to Bernard Hopkins in June 2006.
The Tampa resident captured the vacant IBO light heavyweight title with a June 2007 victory over Elvir Muriqi, then stopped Danny Santiago with a fourth- round TKO in his last bout this past December.
Dawson has won each of his 25 fights with 17 knockouts. The 25-year-old will defend the WBC crown for the third time since winning it last February with a unanimous decision against Tomasz Adamek.
Johnson, a former IBF light heavyweight champ, has won three straight fights since his September 2006 loss to Woods. The 39-year-old Miami resident has a record of 47-11-2 with 32 knockouts.
These bouts will take place a week before another highly-anticipated matchup of light heavyweights, as Joe Calzaghe will move up in weight to take on Hopkins on April 19 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
