Tonight's Showtime card was surprising all-around, with two new champions crowned in unexpected fashion.
First off, Cory Spinks retained the IBF light middleweight championship with a unanimous decision victory over Rodney Jones. Judges' scores were lopsided at 118-109 on one and 120-108 on the other two, so Spinks' reign will continue.
On the televised opener, Jesus Chavez's surgically repaired right knee collapsed on him in the third round, and the returning El Matador was unable to continue. Julio Diaz is now the IBF lightweight champion, and who knows where Chavez will go from here?
The main event was more eventful, as 24-year old Chad Dawson put on a brilliant performance in dominating battle-tested WBC light heavyweight champion Tomasz Adamek, using his speed and a sharp jab and a hard left hand all night to unseat the Polish champion. Dawson won every round on everyone's card until the tenth, when Adamek scored a knockdown. By then, though, he needed a knockout, and Chad Dawson was simply too fast and too slick for Adamek.
What this means, really, is that Chad Dawson is undeniably on the scene. Adamek never looked like he was comfortable during the 12 rounds, and Dawson looked like a much more experienced fighter than any 24-year old should. Adamek goes back to the drawing board, and Dawson moves forward, now one of the top names at 175. There are any number of potential candidates for Dawson to take on next, but we'll have to see how all the politics and such play out, because we're most likely talking about the bigger names in the division. It wouldn't be shocking to see Dawson take on Roy Jones, Jr., in something of a last stand for Jones, as I don't think there's any way he could beat Chad Dawson if Dawson fought like he did tonight against Adamek.