Can Tarver Duplicate His KO of Roy Jones?
CAN TARVER MAKE “MAGIC” AT 42?
Miami, FL– When I first met Antonio Tarver, he was getting ready to go to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA. we all can recall that Olympiad as that’s when ‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali lit the torch to start the festivities. Tarver had already accomplished so much as an amateur, thus many thought he would or should have won Gold for the USA, but instead he got the Bronze and ever since people have doubted the ‘Magic Man.’ But he proved that with hard work and that “never give up” mentality you can make your dreams come true.
ALWAYS THOUGHT TARVER WAS INDEED THE “MAGIC MAN”
Personally, I never doubted the man or his abilities, and I knew he had what it took to make it to the top. Eight years later in 2004, he proved me right when he KO’d the ‘baddest man on the planet’ at that time, Roy Jones Jr. (then 49-1, now 54-8, 40 KOs) in their second go around. Many felt Tarver had won the first fight which prompted (prublicly forced?) Roy to give Tarver another shot. In the rematch, Tarver gave drilled Roy with one punch in one of the nastiest knockouts ever.
STARRED IN THE LAST ROCKY FLICK
The icing on the cake was that Roy was suppose to do the movie with Hall of Famer Sylvester Stallone Rocky Balboa and because of that loss Tarver took his role in the movie. This was big at the moment seeing Roy had just became WBA heavyweight champion some thing only one light heavyweight (175 lbs) before him had accompished, Michael Spinks wining a UD 15 round over then champion Larry Holmes.
FAST FORWARD TO THIS WEEK IN AUSTRALIA
And on July 20, 2011 at the Entertainment center in Sydney New South Australia, Antonio Tarver (28-6, 19 KOs) will be trying to strip Danny Green (31-3, 27 KOs) of his IBO cruiserweight belt (200), the same man who whacked Roy Jones in the blink of an eye. Many again they are counting Tarver out, they’re saying his age caused him to lose two out of his three last fights. Tarver responded in typical Tarver jargon, “I’m going to his backyard, so I’m coming to win, I trust my defense and chin.”
AGE FACTOR MAKES TARVER A BIG UNDERDOG
Tarver knows he can’t move like he us to and at 42 he’s making adjustments to his style, and he also understand the odds are against him. I trusting on our Magic man, Orlando FL pride to be the victor, he’s been training hard for this fight. You can see some of his training videos on You Tube.
FOUGHT HIS WAY OUT OF “THE HOOD”
I consider Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver an example of a man never giving up on a dream. From one of the poorer parts of Orlando, FL, Anotnio went against the odds fighting out of Front Line Out Reach Gym to Olympian and light heavyweight champ by beating the ‘baddest man on planet’ to being a featured player in a Rocky movie, and now a Showtiime TV commentator. All this he accomplished with the odds against him. So that’s why I feel on July 20, he’ll beat the odds and previal over Danny Green.
Manny Caballero