Rays 9, Red Sox 8 (11 innings) (Series tied, 1-1)

Do you realize that this is the first series this postseason that has been tied? Do you realize that someday we all will die?

I caught the start of this game, and after the boxing on Showtime and the finish of Oklahoma State-Mizzou, caught the last few innings.

Quite a game, as far as I could tell. Pedroia went deep twice, Youkilis and Bay both homered, and the Red Sox still lose. Oh Mike Timlin! I missed the Pedroia HR, followed two batters later by Youkilis' and then Bay's right after that, which kinda stinks. Home runs are cool. The Rays hit a few themselves (Longoria, Upton, Cliff "Pink" Floyd).

They have a travel day now and head to Boston. Woo hoo!

Chad Dawson may not be the biggest name in the sport, and unlike Showtime, I won't now tell you he's the world's best light heavyweight. Joe Calzaghe is still THE light heavyweight champion of the world, and Dawson's résumé is simply one that is being built steadily and even rapidly.

His wide unanimous decision win last night signaled a couple of important things, though.

For one thing, we saw the end of Antonio Tarver as a legit top-flight light heavyweight. Frankly, we saw the end of it when Bernard Hopkins beat the daylights out of him in 2006, but the world continued to believe in large part that Tarver was the fighter he briefly was before.

Tarver, if you've never gathered (somehow), has not exactly been one of my favorites over the years. He's a loud, big-talking guy with a couple of great wins. Had he not knocked Roy Jones out with one fluky shot, would we even be here? That was a highlight reel moment for anyone, let alone Tarver slamming the pound-for-pound king.

Since Hopkins, he's done nothing of merit. Wins over Elvir Muriqi and Danny Santiago mean little, if anything. Neither fighter is anywhere near Tarver's class, yet Antonio got a tough fight from Muriqi, and looked incredibly slow against an undersized, far overmatched Santiago, who had no business being in the ring with Tarver. A fight that night with Danny Green -- a solid, not special guy -- may have given Tarver far more than he could handle.

He beat Clinton Woods easily, but I'll always say, since it was obvious, that Woods just wasn't into that one, whatever his reasons were.

Dawson made him look old, slow, and like part of the past, while Chad was clearly the future and the present of the division all rolled up in one. Dawson (27-0, 17 KO) took Tarver's IBF (and IBO) titles with relative ease, winning on scores of 118-109, 117-110, and 117-110. I had it 119-108 for Dawson, though there were a couple of rounds I debated but thought Chad landed cleaner, better shots.

But with all the dissing of Tarver, I want to again make this point: outside of his whining in the 12th round that he didn't go down (his gloves clearly touched the canvas, and that's a knockdown, "Magic Man"), Tarver didn't have any Tarver moments. He was humble and classy in defeat, passed the torch in essence, and also fought like a fighter, not a guy looking to hang on at any cost.

Tarver (27-5, 19 KO) did not clinch with Dawson, who skillfully backed away from Tarver all night, forcing Tarver into the role of pursuer, which is not his strong suit. Tarver threw everything he had at Dawson. It just wasn't good enough to beat a younger, stronger, fresher, faster fighter. Dawson's gameplan worked brilliantly. He was superb.

But Antonio Tarver, even in a lopsided loss, kept the fight moving, kept the action going, and though you might not class it as a warrior loss, I'll say he went out on his shield. In the final round, he unleashed his hands and tried to find any KO he could. He didn't look for the perfect shot, he looked for any shot. That's admirable. He did everything he could to win.

There is no better photo than Herbert Knosowski's AP snap to the right to describe Vitali Klitschko's win over Samuel Peter. Klitschko's fist, what you can make of Peter's face.

To call what Vitali Kiltschko gave Samuel Peter yesterday in Germany a "boxing lesson" would require the thought that Peter had ever signed up for boxing school. To call it, simply, an "outclassing" is saying too little of the match, which was as one-sided as you could have possibly dreamt it being.

Samuel Peter (30-2, 23 KO) looked as though he had absolutely no business in the ring with Vitali Klitschko, who is going to be lauded, somewhat rightfully, for a great performance. Truth is, any tall heavyweight that knew how to control distance was going to beat the crap out of Peter.

Samuel Peter's head movement was at an all-time low. He didn't jab, and he couldn't jab. He never got inside. He tried to bull-rush a few times, and all that came of it was some wild, missed swings, and then Vitali re-finding his range and pop-pop-popping Peter until the Nigerian titleholder could takes no more, quitting after eight Klitschko-owned rounds.

Was it fear? Is it a simple case of Peter being overrated thanks to the landscape around him?

As for the latter idea, that's not his fault. What is he now at worst? Still a top five heavyweight. I wouldn't take him to beat either Klitschko and I also think Valuev's size would have its way with Peter, but I'd take him over cement-footed Chagaev, a guy he could catch clean at some point.

Peter is David Tua with less excitement. He's a lumbering, squat, straight-forward fighter that just cannot handle a good, tall fighter. Jameel McCline got him in trouble, and McCline is hardly any great shakes.

All respect to Vitali Klitschko, new WBC heavyweight titlist. Watching him and Wladimir get ready to make another weird bunch of photos after the fight was a bit much for me, and it troubles me that we're now even further away from a heavyweight champion being crowned. Had Peter beaten Vitali, all it would've taken was a Peter-Wlad rematch, and you're damn right I think Wladimir would've tried to avenge his brother. After all, big bro beat up bullies Corrie Sanders and Ross Purritty when they were done with Wladimir, and Wladimir twice hammered Chris Byrd, who holds a win over Vitali.

With Peter, you're also seeing what the future holds for Chris Arreola, like it or not. A big, thick, sturdy guy that likes to mix it up, whose power isn't Tyson-esque or anything, and whose simple boxing skills lack crispness. Plus, frankly, neither exactly goes out of their way to be in the best possible shape.

Meanwhile, giant fitness freaks the Klitschkos rule the roost at heavyweight on the strength of their jabs. There ain't nothin' wrong with either man as a fighter, if you ask me, but if it's a sensational and dynamic heavyweight champ you're looking for, keep waiting.

Quick n' dirty, and we'll have MUCH more tomorrow:

1. Vitali Klitschko dominated and forced Samuel Peter to quit after eight rounds of one-sided action in Germany. Peter was never in the fight. He was horrible.

2. Chad Dawson won a unanimous decision over Antonio Tarver, who was uncharacteristically humble and honest in defeat. Dawson was masterful, and I'll give Tarver credit: he didn't clinch, he didn't punk out. He fought. He was out-fought by a better, faster, stronger, younger fighter. He took it like a man, and in the final round after getting knocked down, he threw everything he had. It was a respectable defeat, one-sided as it was.

Again, a reminder: DO NOT post spoilers of the Peter-Klitschko fight as it happens live in Germany. The fight will be broadcast at 9pm on Showtime here in the United States, and we're waiting for that to catch any of the results so that we can cover it "live" via tape delay.

A couple of notes from Dan Rafael of ESPN on upcoming pay-per-views:

Zab Judah WILL fight on November 8 beneath Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones, and won't be coming back at 140 like some had speculated and many hoped. He'll fight at 147 pounds again, but has officially stated he plans to go down to 140 soon:

"I'm working on my weight," Judah told ESPN.com. "I started at 140 and mentally I know that is where I should be. I'm planning to go back there and dominate. I stay ready. I'll be ready. I'm just here to show my fans I am still dominant and I can put on good fights and give great entertainment."

Judah's opponent is likely to be Ernest "Too Slick" Johnson (18-2-1, 7 KO). What a crummy, waste of time undercard that's going to be.

Abner Mares is off of next weekend's Pavlik-Hopkins undercard, where he was scheduled to fight Luis Melendez in a fight that really could have been pretty exciting. Mares suffered a torn retina this week in training, and underwent surgery. Hey, no phantom injury or B.S. about that. Nothing you can do. These things happen.

Instead of Mares-Melendez, the opening bout of the televised portion of the pay-per-view will be a six-rounder featuring Golden Boy top prospect Daniel Jacobs (10-0, 9 KO) against Indianapolis fighter Jimmy Campbell (11-2, 8 KO). I'll take it. Jacobs is the real deal, and with such short notice, nothing bigger could be expected.

Source: BoxingScene.com (Ronnie Nathanielsz)

WBO bantamweight titlist "Fearless" Gerry Penalosa says he'd like to fight 122-pound titleholder Juan Manuel Lopez on the undercard to De la Hoya-Pacquiao on December 6, reports Ronnie Nathanielsz.

Penalosa (53-6-2, 36 KO) has fought just once this year, successfully defending his title with an eighth round TKO of Ratanachai Sor Vorapin in April. He won the title with a stunning body shot KO of Jhonny Gonzalez last August.

The last time Penalosa fought at 122, he lost a good fight against heavily-favored Daniel Ponce de Leon, the same man that Lopez blew out inside of one round to gain worldwide attention earlier this year. Lopez scored a two-punch KO of Cesar Figueroa in his first defense on October 4, and his scheduled to appear on the big December 6 undercard in a featured position.

I like the fight. Penalosa's camp says they're going to talk to Bob Arum to try to make it happen. It would put a Filipino in a position of prominence on Pacquiao's undercard, and it would be a nice test for Juanma, one of the most exciting young fighters on the planet. Penalosa can scrap, and he's very smart. He's also tough.

Nothing wrong with the idea as far as I can see. Whether or not it happens is another story, but it would be a fine addition to the card.

Game's not until much later but I'm spending my day watching college football and later boxing, so here's this now.

Dan Rafael got the scoop last night that Kendall Holt and Ricardo Torres will hook up for a third time to settle the score on December 13 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. This fight will be in Holt's backyard -- the first one came in Colombia, Torres' home country, and the second was fought in Vegas.

You likely remember the second bout, a stunning one-round affair that ended in 61 seconds. Holt was knocked down, but stormed back to stop Torres on a beautiful finishing punch...which had been preceded by a brutal clash of heads. It happens. The first fight was no less controversial, with Holt being hit with beer bottles in an unsafe, uncontrolled environment.

It'll be the same day as Klitschko-Povetkin, but with HBO airing that one live (I think, anyway) sometime in the late afternoon, there'll be plenty of time for this "special ShoBox" event in the late evening. Should be a fun day, and I'm really looking forward to this fight.

As always, odds are taken from Bodog.

Fight thread will get bumped up later -- I just wanted to put something up for people to not post spoilers.

The books have Vitali Klitschko as a -200 favorite over Samuel Peter (+160). Both guys are decent bets, really. Maybe Peter catches Klitschko cold and rusty. Maybe Klitschko just plain catches Peter.

It's also a sucker's bet because there are so many intangibles and unknowns. Who knows what Klitschko has left in the tank? If he fights like he used to, I think he knocks Peter out cold, because he's simply a better fighter.

The over/under for rounds is 9 1/2, with even money on the under and -140 on the over. I'd bet it won't go that long. They're going to be throwing too many bombs for it to last very long. I don't see it going over seven, honestly.

In Vegas, Chad Dawson is the favorite (-260) over 39-year old Antonio Tarver (+200). The biggest news might be the fact that the 2,000-seat arena at the Palms isn't even close to sold out, which means that neither man is any sort of attraction. Tarver, like Shane Mosley, never really has been, no matter how good he is. Neither has ever been an A-side attraction. And Dawson just isn't a big enough name yet.

Still, not being able to fill 2,000 seats? Pretty embarrassing. Promotion for the fight didn't seem great, but I don't really think that's it. Not being able to find 2,000 boxing fans willing to pay for a major fight, and a legitimately interesting bout at that, is pretty amazing. It is also a one-fight card, really, which might have something to do with it.

Who knows? All I know is that neither man is going to have a Vegas attraction bargaining chip for any fight after this one.

Truth be told, this fight should not be in Vegas, with Dawson based in Connecticut and Tarver in Florida. What's wrong with the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville? One of the sites in Tampa? Maybe AC? Vegas makes the best offers, but it doesn't always make it the best home for a fight.