By Mark Vester

Former light heavyweight champ Antonio Tarver (24-4, 18 KOs) was set to make his return to the ring on April 22 againt Elvir Muriqi (34-3, 21 KOs) at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. Contrary to the rumors going around in the press, the fight was postponed by promoter Joe DeGuardia and not because of Tarver's inability to make weight.

Tarver told boxing writer Dan Rafael that he was ready for the fight and already near the light heavyweight limit of 175-pounds.

"I woke up this morning at 182 pounds in great shape and ready to go," Tarver said. "Contrary to what people are saying, the fight is not off because I am not in shape. That is a lie. I am in great shape and ready, willing and able to satisfy my end of the bargain. For whatever reason, the fight was postponed. But it had nothing to do with Antonio Tarver. This is my comeback fight and I am taking every fight deadly serious."

The fight was scheduled to make a rare appearance on ABC, which would have made it the first boxing card to land on the network since June 17, 2000. To date, the fight was never officially announced, there were problems locking down sponsorships and delivering acceptable commercials to ABC.

Rafael notes that promoter Joe DeGuardia was not being paid a licensing fee by ABC, but rather buying an hour of time from the network. As the clock began to wind down, DeGuardia pulled the plug on the show as he stood to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars by putting on the event.

DeGuardia is hoping to reschedule the fight at a later date, and there is no indication if ABC will be in the mix to televise. Tarver has not fought since a losing a decision to Bernard Hopkins last June, but plans to make three ring appearances this year.