By David P. Greisman
Six months after Glencoffe Johnson and Antonio Tarver gave up their championship belts to face off in a battle of the world's two best light heavyweights, the duo stepped between the ropes for a second go-around, with Tarver seeking to avenge his split decision loss to 2004's Fighter of the Year.
In this week's edition of Fighting Words, I will examine the strategy that Tarver used to prevent a repeat of December's result and speculate what route the Magic Man's future will take. Within The 10 Count is a mixed bag of the past week's news and upcoming events, ranging from the strange (Carlos Navarro's meltdown against Bobby Pacquiao) to the stupid (Vitali Klitschko's reportedly negotiating to fight Oleg Maskaev).
Tarver Regains the Throne, But Should He Abdicate?
Although his loss half a year ago to Johnson was by a close split decision, with judges Chuck Giampa and Melvina Lathan scoring it 115-113 for the Road warrior and Marty Denkin holding the lone dissenting vote for Tarver at 116-112, it was only the 1996 Olympic bronze medalist that would need to make adjustments in strategizing for the rematch.
Johnson's marauding bullish style had been the essential tool to his recent turnaround and success, the aggressive charging and overwhelming offense ensuring that the scorecards would give him the benefit of the doubt, hopefully preventing the calamities that ringside officials had heaped upon him in the past.
For Tarver and his trainer Buddy McGirt, the key was to not take any steps backwards, and most importantly to control the pace and thus the outcome of the match. McGirt upped Tarver's work rate, keeping his charge active with combinations from a distance, forcing Johnson to wait for the onslaught to end before attempting to launch one of his own. To prevent his stamina from diminishing too early, a large amount of Tarver's combinations began with arm punches that cost less energy to throw, mixed in with heavier shots towards the end of each flurry, a change of pace that provided extra punctuation.
It meant that Tarver, who had promised to knock out Johnson like he had Eric Harding in 2002 and Roy Jones Jr. in 2004, his two previous rematches, would instead box his way to victory, intelligently throwing his foe off of his game and forcing him to continually readjust in an attempt to gain control.
The Glencoffe Johnson that had become so familiar in the past year was mainly absent, stifled, behind in points from the get-go, and was never able to establish momentum or authority.
With the win, Tarver has regained his perch atop the light heavyweight division while leaving open the opportunity for a rubber match between himself and Johnson, who remain the two best fighters at 175 pounds. But aside from that future tiebreaker, few pugilists remain at Tarver's weight class that could provide the financial windfall that the gregarious Floridian is seeking.
The four major beltholders are Clinton Woods, Fabrice Tiozzo, Tomasz Adamek and Zsolt Erdei, Europeans with negligible name recognition in America. Waiting in the wings, though, is boxing's next comeback, as Jones, while working the broadcast, is planning an eventual return that shall create a sizeable payday for whomever the former pound-for-pound denizen chooses to fight.
But until the HBO color commentator decides to get back into the ring, Tarver and Johnson will be victimized by the same kind of entropy generated when Jones wiped out most competition during his reign.
The best possible names for Tarver exist outside the boundaries of his kingdom. Candidates for his ledger include Bernard Hopkins, who has considered putting on fifteen pounds for his final showing before retirement, but may only do so for a rematch of his 1993 loss to Jones; Joe Calzaghe, the Welsh super middleweight titlist with a large European following; and Jean-Marc Mormeck, the cruiserweight champion that used a style similar to Johnson's in unifying his WBA title with Wayne Braithwaite's WBC belt.
The 10 Count
1. Friday's ESPN2 card featuring Carlos Navarro (older brother of super flyweight contender Jose) and Bobby Pacquiao (sibling to Manny) was intended to be a spotlight for Navarro against a crowd-pleasing journeyman, but ended up as one of the more bizarre matches in recent years. The first two rounds saw Pacquiao slipping and sliding around the ring, not due to the painted advertisements on the canvass, but from a new pair of shoes that lacked traction. It took six minutes of precarious footing until his corner came up with the creative solution of wrapping glove tape, sticking side out, around his boots.
In the sixth, Pacquiao would put Navarro down with a body shot, only to have referee Jon Schorle rule it a low blow, docking Pacman-lite a point. Frustrated by what he perceived to be fouls from Pacquiao, including being pushed to the mat and punches while he was down, Navarro would stay seated a couple of times, inviting the third man in the ring to count him out. Finally, in the seventh round, Navarro took a knee, and counted to ten along with Schorle, giving Pacquiao the knockout victory.
2. In the time since Vitali Klitschko's back injury postponed his April defense against Hasim Rahman to June, then July and eventually September, the Ukrainian has used the press to call out James Toney, Lamon Brewster and Oleg Maskaev. Rahman is the mandatory challenger for Klitschko's WBC title, but with the delay he shall now face Monte Barrett for the interim title on August 13. According to Rahman, the six week turnaround between his bout with Barrett and Klitschko's scheduled September date would not be an obstacle (pending the win), and is understandably perturbed at what he feels is Vitali's desire to avoid him. It appears that Klitschko is focused on anyone but Rahman, and although Brewster is the WBO titlist and Toney is a decent contender, Maskaev hasn't defeated anyone of consequence since the turn of the century. For a man who wants to be recognized as the heavyweight champion, Vitali needs to man up and face Rahman, and then, and only if he is successful, meet Brewster, Byrd or Ruiz and commence unification.
3. Déjà vu: Larry Merchant said something just after the referee Bill Clancy's instructions to Antonio Tarver and Glencoffe Johnson that sounded very familiar to this scribe. Larry quipped, “You'll notice that Glen Johnson did not say to Antonio Tarver, 'What's your excuse going to be tonight, Antonio?' ”
In my May 9 column celebrating the Jose Luis Castillo/Diego Corrales war, this number 3 spot in The 10 Count read, “Open Mouth, Insert Foot, Part One: Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press reports on Antonio Tarver's rematch with Glencoffe Johnson, writing, 'Tarver said he didn't get into shape for their first fight until after the contract was signed in mid-October.' As much as I like Tarver, I'm hoping the mild-mannered Johnson steps up to the mic and asks, 'Got any excuses tonight, Antonio?' ”
4. Multiple musicians have had artistic renditions of boxing on their album covers, from Aimee Mann's “The Forgotten Arm” to the Greatest Hits compilation by Alice in Chains. This week's new releases, though, included a Dropkick Murphys CD, “The Warrior's Code,” that featured Micky Ward delivering his patented left hook body shot to Arturo Gatti. According to reviews, the title track is dedicated to Ward, their fellow Massachusetts native of Irish ancestry.
5. Evander Holyfield was voted off of ABC's “Dancing With the Stars” last week, thanks to low scores from his jive routine and a poor showing in audience voting. If only we could do the same to convince him to retire from boxing.
6. After rising from the canvass last April to beat Jameel McCline by decision, Calvin Brock is staying busy with a non-televised bout against journeyman Kenny Craven on the undercard of the Arturo Gatti/Floyd Mayweather Jr. pay-per-view. To get a grasp on that night's level of competition for Brock, one must note that Craven has been knocked out twice by Butterbean and once each by heavyweight mainstays Clifford Etienne (whom Brock kayoed in January), Vaughn Bean and Henry Akinwande.
7. Ike Quartey's ten rounder against Verno Phillips on Saturday should have ended as a majority draw, as referee Randy Phillips (no relation) missed a second knockdown at the end of round nine that would have given Verno a 10-7 round and a 94-94 result on two judges' cards. While some fault can be given to the referee, blame should also lay on Verno, who shot his wad early on and allowed Quartey to come back and outwork him from the third through eighth rounds. “Bazooka” was underwhelming, and had to hold on for dear life while nearly on wobbly legs following the first trip to the canvass in the ninth, but it should also be taken into consideration that this was just Quartey's second bout after a five-year layoff.
8. Felix Sturm easily outpointed Jorge Sendra in Croatia in a WBA middleweight title eliminator, earning him a shot at Bernard Hopkins that he shall never receive. Still, after being ripped off by the judges of a victory over Oscar De La Hoya last year, Sturm should be able to attain the recognition he deserves once The Executioner retires.
9. In a battle of mouthpiece dischargers, Acelino Freitas has exercised his rematch option and will face Diego Corrales this fall. After quitting in the tenth round of their bout last August, Freitas better hope that a tremendous piece of Chico was left in the ring against Jose Luis Castillo, and that he can do a better job avoiding Corrales's powerful hooks this time around.
10. Oscar De La Hoya, who had been thought to be returning this September, has announced that he will not be fighting this year. De La Hoya has chosen to concentrate on spending time with his pregnant wife Millie, who is expecting to deliver their first child around New Year's Eve. With the success that Golden Boy Promotions has had in recent years, his recent stamina problems in distance fights and his one-time promise to quit boxing in his early thirties, De La Hoya should seriously consider remaining inactive. Realistically, though, this is boxing, and comebacks are the norm, especially when they are accompanied with the eight figure paychecks that Oscar earns.
Next Week's Fighting Words - Thunder vs. Lightning
In next week's edition of Fighting Words, I will examine the results of Arturo Gatti's showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr., as well as those of the undercard, which includes Vivian Harris, Ivan Calderon, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Calvin Brock. With legitimate bad blood between Gatti and Mayweather, this Saturday may be explosive, and although Mayweather's skills are exemplary, the past decade has taught us to never count out the Human Highlight Reel.
