By Rick Reeno
We hear the old saying over and over "to be the man, you have to beat the man". While the slogan holds true some of the time, it does not hold true all of the time. This weekend we saw another example of a fighter who beat the man and showed that he is not the man.
Let's take a look at a few fights where a fighter beat the man, felt he should be called the man and proved in his next fight that he was not the man.
Vernon Forrest vs. Shane Mosley - Vernon dominated Shane in their first fight at a time when Shane was considered the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Shane was almost stopped and took a heavy beating. After the conclusion of the bout, Forrest felt that he should now be the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Larry Merchant said the possible best reply to Forrest after this fight, Merchant said "If you beat Tiger Woods, it does not make you Tiger Woods". Of course fans jumped on the Forrest wagon after he beat Shane in rematch, only to see Forrest knocked out by Ricardo Mayorga, beaten in a rematch and never heard from again.
Buster Douglas vs. Mike Tyson - The biggest upset in Boxing history. Douglas dominated and knocked the undefeated champion who had an entire division in the palm of his hand. Douglas went on a "I'm the best" parade like no other and media did as well. Douglas was knocked out in his next bout with Holyfield and vanished for many years. He came out of retirement at one point to try and lure Mike Tyson in a rematch but was knocked out in one round by Lou Savarese to send him back into retirement.
Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Junior Jones - Jones beat Barrera in back to back fights. Barrera at the time was one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Jones was automatically placed among the pound for pound best. Jones was knocked out in four rounds when he met former Barrera TKO victim Kennedy McKinney.
Hasim Rahman vs. Lennox Lewis - Rahman knocked out Lewis in 5 rounds by become the heavyweight champion. Rahman spoke out in the media about how he was the best heavyweight in the world and no fighter in the division could touch him. Lewis did more then touch him in the rematch, he knocked Rahman out in 4 rounds.
Ricardo Mayorga vs. Vernon Forrest - Two wins over the overhyped Forrest landed Mayorga a spot on the pound for pound list. The old "I beat the man who beat the man, so that makes me the man" slogan was used here. Mayorga was exposed as nothing more then a one dimensional fighter when he was beaten by the light fisted Cory Spinks a few months later.
And the last example.
Antonio Tarver vs. Roy Jones Jr. - A close decision loss and a two round KO catapulted Tarver to the top of some pound for pound lists. Tarver was vocal before and after the fight about how good he was and he was the best fighter in the world. This past weekend, Tarver could not even knock out a fighter with 9 prior losses. Even thought not all of those losses are legit, about half of them still are. Tarver was overhyped due to the Jones KO, unlike Glen Johnson, Tarver believed his own hype and was beat by Johnson in a close fight.
The way some fans, writers and fighters spoke about Tarver, he should of knocked Glen Johnson out in 6 rounds. That is not what happened and as a result, the Tarver boat has lost some steam that it will never get back. The damage by Johnson has been done and is irreversible because even if Tarver beats Johnson in a rematch, there are not enough opponents below or above Tarver to solidify him as a pound for pound best.
The hype was so high on Tarver prior to this bout that there was some serious thought in moving Tarver up to heavyweight. Tarver was calling out Mike Tyson and other heavyweight champions. Even during the Johnson fight, HBO was talking about a Tarver run in the heavyweight division. The Johnson fight proved without a shadow of a doubt that Tarver will not make it in the heavyweight division.
