Antonio Tarver's Heavyweight Debut Leaves Questions

By Cliff Rold

If 41, soon to be 42, year old former Light Heavyweight king Antonio Tarver (28-6, 19 KO) of Tampa, Florida, won but left room for improvement and skepticism about his chances at Heavyweight on Friday night at the Buffalo Run Casino, Miami, Oklahoma.  While he won going away, Tarver struggled in spots and his best shots didn’t do the damage they might have lower on the scale, 24-year old journeyman Nagy Aguilera (16-5, 11 KO) of Newburgh, New York, able to last the distance in a unanimous decision loss.

Tarver debuted at Heavyweight at a surprising 221 lbs., some 46 lbs. higher than in his last fight.  Aguilera came in at 232.

Tarver, a southpaw, started off with a pair of pawing right jabs and eluding an early rush from Aguilera with his feet.  Through the opening minute it was mostly Tarver coming forward but that changed as Tarver settled into his more natural posture as a counter puncher.  Tarver managed a short lead right hook inside and sent a hard left hook from Aguilera sailing over his shoulder in a brief flurry of action.

Following a slow first minute and a broken clinch in the corner by referee Jay Nady, round two evolved into target practice for the long left hand of Tarver.  Aguilera mostly staying in the corner, Tarver belted him with straight shots and kept the action at a steady, if modest, pace.  An uppercut and hook combination belted Aguilera about a minute into the third and Tarver again kept control until late in the frame, a right from Aguilera giving the former Light Heavyweight something to think about.  Tarver snaked in a short left counter just before the bell to seal what appeared to be a three round lead.

In round four, Tarver appeared to be favoring his left arm and a spattering of boos broke out in the crowd as Aguilera moved forward and upped the ante of his right hand threats.  Into the fifth, Tarver was winging instead of sticking with the left but still managed a capable right jab.  Breathing through a wide mouth by the end of the round, Tarver took a few hard shots in the sixth and answered with a stinging left to back Aguilera into the corner.  It was one of the few hard lefts he could manage.

The only problem with the left in round seven was Tarver couldn’t land quite enough of them to floor Aguilera in a round where Aguilera was momentarily stunned in the corner.  The arm was still troubling despite the burst, Tarver’s corner massaging below the shoulder between rounds and Tarver briefly switching to an orthodox stance as his left hung loosely.  Aguilera landed a decent left in the eighth as Tarver switched back to southpaw, Tarver responding by rocking Aguilera with a hard left just before the bell.

Even having to telegraph his left, Tarver found it and the right hand landing largely at will in round nine, an insurmountable lead built on the cards as Aguilera’s token offense of previous rounds was harder to come by.  The only question remaining with three minutes to go was whether or not Tarver could end his Heavyweight debut with a stoppage.

The exhausted Tarver could not.

Quite to the contrary, Aguilera took some solid belts early and managed what was probably his best round of the fight.  Aggressively letting his hands go, Aguilera backed Tarver up with rights and gave chase in spots but could do little more than insure a place on the scorecards.  Tarver received the easy unanimous decision verdict by scores of 98-92 across the board.

Tarver stated after the fight that he felt like he pulled something around the left shoulder but Tarver said he “did what he had to do” in utilizing it anyways as the fight wore on.  Tarver further stated he felt he needed to “power up” in the gym to make sure his best shots get rid of more high quality big men.  Whether he can remains to be seen but Tarver didn’t lose the right to try on Friday night.    

If the main event was about weight gained, the chief support focused on the culmination of a steady weight loss.

Now almost twenty pounds lighter than his professional debut weight of 165 ½ lbs., 22-year old Shawn Porter (17-0, 13 KO), of Akron, Ohio, finished what has been a deliberate recent shrink, squeezing under the Welterweight limit of 147 lbs. and maintaining his winning ways with a ninth round stoppage of a game but outmatched 32-year old Hector Munoz (18-4-1, 11 KO) of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  It was the fourth stoppage loss of Munoz’s almost eight-year career.  

Porter, 146 ½, got off to a fast start, clearly looking to send a message, but found Munoz, 146 ¾, unwilling to head for the showers early.   By the fourth, Porter had slowed the pace, boxing more but, as had been the case from the onset, landing hard left hooks and quick lead rights when he planted his feet.  An accidental head butt in round five popped a gusher near the right temple of Munoz and, despite the best efforts of his corner, the crimson continued to flow for the duration of the bout.

Another head clash opened a second cut high on the right side of Munoz’s head but Munoz shook it off and continued to push forward, Porter dishing out punishment as Munoz looked for a big shot to change his fortunes.  The courage of Munoz paid off in spots, like with a hard right hand in round eight as Porter moved backwards.  The shot did little to make Porter think, the favored man opening up with a series of harsh shots just before the bell.

Finally, in round nine, courage proved not enough.  A vicious right hand from Porter put Munoz into a defensive shell and sent referee Gary Ritter onto his toes.  As Porter punished Munoz with rights and lefts, the corner of Munoz began to make motions to stop the action and Munoz was left with little to do but absorb abuse.  Ritter stepped in to wave the action closed, Munoz still gamely on his feet, at 2:05 of the ninth round.

Porter the Welterweight will continue on in what is suddenly a weight class in need of new blood.

The card was televised in the U.S. on Showtime as part of its “ShoBox” series, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com