By Ja Lang G. Greene

Hunger, desire, intestinal fortitude, mental toughness, preparation, and work ethic are some of the characteristics needed for a fighter to reach elite status. Fighters toil most of their careers in the hopes of becoming the best in the eyes of the fans. In today’s boxing scene full of alphabet soup organizations offering titles, there are plenty of champs but very few champions. The battle between the aging Antonio Tarver & Bernard Hopkins is a chance to see two legitimate champions of this era square off in the ring.

For Tarver, this fight may bring a dose of unwanted karma. In 2003, Roy Jones Jr. was at the top of the sweet science. After running, through a plethora of middleweights, super middleweights, and light heavyweights during one of the most spectacular stretches of dominance during the last two decades, Jones decided to challenge John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title. During an intense training camp Jones bulked up twenty five pounds to help nullify the weight disadvantage and entered the ring at 200 pounds for the biggest challenge of his career.

Jones was successful in his quest to win a portion of the prestigious heavyweight crown and put on a clinic of hit and be hit little during twelve rounds of mostly one sided action. At the press conference, Tarver stood up and asked when he was going to receive his shot at the top. Jones responded that before he retired he would drop back down to light heavyweight and “whoop” the magic man.

Roy wanted to cash in his chips and set up a mega fight with Iron Mike Tyson.  When the fight with Tyson failed to materialize, Tarver, who had since claimed the WBC / IBF 175 title with the destruction of perennial contender Montell Griffin, finally received his shot to claim elite status with a bout against Jones that was set for November 8, 2003.

Tarver suffered a majority decision(Jerry Roth 114-114 Draw, Glen Hamada 111-117 for Jones, David Harris 112-116 Jones) defeat at the hands of the hall of fame bound Jones. But after his inspired showing and fierce combinations that pinned Jones’ back on the ropes with earmuffs applied during numerous occasions, a loud outcry was sparked for a rematch. Most felt Jones squeezed out a narrow decision by salvaging the championship rounds on pure will to reclaim his light heavyweight throne.

The immediate response from the Jones crew after the fight was that the training camp to make the light heavy limit was a struggle and muscle mass was lost, thus making the fight harder with Tarver than it should have been. Tarver and his followers deemed these responses to be monumental excuses. This led to entertaining pre-fight exchanges, punctuated by the infamous “Any excuses tonight Roy,” comment during the referee instructions in the second fight.  Tarver went on to win the second and third fights in their trilogy, officially ending the reign of the long time pound for pound king.

Fast forward to 2006, Tarver is now viewed by some experts as a top five pound for pound caliber talent. He has since invaded the guest commentary spots, late night talk show circuit, can demand multi-million dollar paydays and wears custom made suits. Tarver is now in the same predicament that Jones was in nearly three years ago.

Wanting a new challenge, Tarver decided to throw his hat into the acting genre with an upcoming co-starring role in Rocky VI (much like Jones who appeared in the Matrix II). Beefing up to over 200 lbs to fulfill the requirements of portraying a heavyweight champion, the magic man had to shed over 25 pounds to get within the mandatory 175 lb limit for his bout with Bernard Hopkins on Saturday night.

After the verbal barrage that Tarver gave Roy Jones Jr., for using the weight gain and subsequent loss, it would be hard to fathom for any logical boxing fan to afford Tarver with the ability to utilize the same excuse if he lost on Saturday night. Just as up and coming fighters always end the reigns of yesteryear’s stars, karma in boxing is a given. Based on the scenarios leading up to this fight, it would be an ironic twist of karma if Tarver were to lose and then use the same logic a drained Jones used in 2003.

Ja Lang Greene can be reached at jalanggreene@boxingscene.com