Glen Johnson (right) connects with a right to the jaw of World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson during their first fight last year. - File

HARTFORD, Connecticut, United States:

Two fighters with distinctly different battle plans will enter the ring here tonight. But their eyes will be on a single prize.

While Jamaican Glen Johnson is dead set on scoring a knockout, his American opponent Chad Dawson will be content on swaying the judges' decision at end of their 12-round world light heavyweight championship fight at the XL Center.

"I'm always hunting for the knockout, no matter who I'm fighting against," Clarendon-born Johnson declared following Thursday's pre-fight press conference to announce the fight for the interim World Boxing Council's (WBC) and International Boxing Organisation (IBO) titles. "But this situation, it's definitely a situation where you need to have that."

Both eagerly want to claim the crown as the world's best fighter in the 175-pound division. Tonight's clash of contrasting approaches - ex-world champ Johnson looking to push the pace and pound on the inside, reigning IBO king Dawson preferring to box from outside - promises a match-up of top light heavyweight talents.

But 'Title Night In Hartford' could easily have been billed as a grudge match between two fighters desperate to settle a score that has festered for a year and a half.

controversial loss

Johnson, with a ring record of 49 wins, 12 losses and two draws, lost a controversial 12-round unanimous decision to Dawson in April 2008 with the American's WBC belt on the line. While the three judges that night in Tampa, Florida, backed Dawson, a large portion of the crowd showed its disapproval by booing long and hard.

Johnson's camp, now in Dawson's home state, predicts this time the matter will be settled inside the ring, not at the scorers' table.

"I can guarantee you that this fight will not go the distance," said Johnson's manager Henry Foster on Thursday. "I can virtually guarantee that. I'm sure Glen will win by knockout."

Johnson's Jamaica-born assistant trainer Hamlet McKenzie echoed the manager's confidence that Dawson vs Johnson II will not go the distance.

"We've got a good shot this time," McKenzie said. "We're gonna get (Dawson). We're not gonna leave it up to the judges. We're gonna get him outta there."

But Dawson, with a record of 28-0, quickly dismissed those claims on Thursday.

While Johnson made it clear he will be pressuring the American for an early end to the championship fight, which is scheduled for sometime after HBO's televised broadcast begins at 9:30 p.m. Jamaica time, Dawson has no intention to repeat mistakes of the first bout.

In Tampa, the taller American southpaw used his superior reach early to score points, especially with the jab. But in the later rounds, with Johnson stepping up the pace and bullying more inside, Dawson strayed from that tactic. That switch was nearly disastrous. Tonight, the American vows to stick to his strategy throughout.

"I plan to box," Dawson said. "If you watched the first fight I was boxing for the first six, seven rounds. Second half of the fight I got into a slugging fest with him. I won't do that this time."

That plan, Dawson believes, will be good enough to preserve his undefeated ring record. But while he is not predicting it, he also claims that if anyone is stopped inside the distance tonight it won't be him.

in the gym all the time

"No, I don't see myself getting stopped," Dawson, who has 17 knockouts in his professional career, said with a laugh. "If anybody's gonna get knocked out it's gonna be him. Trust me."

Both fighters, who had a weigh-in yesterday at the fight venue, claim to be in top shape for the championship bout.

"That's what I do, I train," said Dawson. "I love boxing. I'm in the gym all the time. So I'm in great shape for this fight. I prepared well, I've had great sparring. I'm ready to go."

Johnson's camp said the Jamaican is at his peak mentally. The 40-year-old claims he is also in better physical shape than when he stopped American star Roy Jones Jr in 2004, one of his 33 career knockouts and probably the Jamaican's most famous win.

"We've had a wonderful training camp and now we're very excited, looking forward to the great fight," said Johnson.

Since his arrival earlier this week in this northeastern US city, which has a significant Jamaican community but is not far from Dawson's New Haven home, the man nicknamed the 'Road Warrior' has appeared at ease. On Thursday he smiled even during the face-to-face stand-off with Dawson, staged for the media. His camp insists that is a sure sign he is ready.

"It is typical of him," said Foster, who has handled Johnson's career for the past nine years. "He's always relaxed before a fight. He's always quite confident that he did his job (preparing).

"In my observation as manager he's even surpassed his condition that he had when he beat Roy Jones."