TARVER STILL LIVING OFF ROY JONES KO?
Oakland, CA- Tomorrow night, former light heavyweight (175 lb.) champion Antonio Tarver (27-6 19 KOs) will make his inaugural visit to the heavyweight (over 200) division. Although he played a heavyweight on TV (as Mason ‘The Line’ Dixon in the last Rocky) this bout will be the real deal. Tarver seems serious about his jump but was never really know as a huge puncher, something that is key at heavyweight. He has a very solid left hand, which may produce some success, but against the elite in the division he’ll need more than a left hand and a bit of speed to compete. This brings us to the question, is Antonio looking for some quick paydays or does he really present a threat to those at the top of the heavyweight division?
SCALES & HISTORY NOT IN TARVER’S CORNER
Unlike the very few opponents who’ve had success jumping from light heavy up, Tarver is aging and is not coming in as a dominant force even at his native weight. After being routed out of the light heavyweight division by Chad Dawson in back to back losses, Tarver appears to be at a crossroad in his career. He’s no longer a player at light heavy, and the quality opponents there have all given him trouble. He lost to Eric Harding, Glen Johnson and Roy Jones before defeating them in rematches. And he was clearly beaten by Bernard Hopkins. It would seem that at 41 years old, the natural thing to do would be to retire, but like so many other boxers who’ve moved well pass there primes, he feels he still has something to prove (or some money to make).
JOURNEYMAN FOE SUPPOSED TO BE LITMUS TEST?
Although it will be against a relatively unknown opponent, the man across from him on fight night will be a true heavyweight. Nagy Aguilera (16-4 11 KOs) has fought men weighing as high as 284 lbs and possesses solid KO percentage (just shy of 70%). He’s only been stopped by Samuel Peter and regularly fights around 230 to 240 pounds. Tarver, who reportedly walks around at about 215 lbs himself, will certainly be the smaller man and will have his chin tested by a bigger puncher than he’s ever seen. The best way Tarver can show the world that he can be a threat at heavyweight would be to start by knocking out Mr. Aguilera. It’s certainly possible, as anything is in the sport, but remains to be seen as a reality.
IT’S EITHER MAGIC OR BUST!
Tarver’s career is largely due to his surreal and devastating KO of Roy Jones, who was seen at the time as the best pound for pound fighter in the sport. But outside of that victory, he has done little to cement himself as an all time great or even a top tier fighter in his era. If Antonio, who goes by the moniker, ‘Magic Man’ can bring some of that to the heavyweight division, he might at least make some entertaining fights with smaller heavyweights like Tomasz Adamek or David Haye. It’s unlikely that he’ll ever get a shot at the Klitchsko’s unless he is able to shock the world once again, by knocking out a top heavyweight first. The problem is that he’s only done it once and that may have been all that he has left.
Jarrad Woods