LOS ANGELES -- Antonio Tarver, one of the leading contenders for fighter of the year honors, has agreed to meet Glen Johnson in a light heavyweight title unification bout on December 18 at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.
Tarver battered Roy Jones Jr. in May and holds the WBC 175-pound title.
Johnson, who stunned Jones in September, holds the IBF belt.
Likely the last major fight fight of the year, the winner almost assuredly will earn the distinction as the best boxer of 2004.
"It is an honor for me to promote a bout that I believe will go down in the books as one of the best light heavyweight championship fights of this era," promoter Joe DeGuardia said. "Antonio and Glen are gentlemen outside of the ring, but in it, they will both fight ferociously to earn the respect of the public."
Tarver (22-2, 18 KOs), who won a bronze medal for the United States in the 1996 Olympic games, lost a controversial decision to Jones in November 2003. He avenged that defeat with a shocking second-round knockout of Jones five months later.
Johnson (41-9-2, 28 KOs), a native of Jamaica, captured the title with a unanimous decision over Clinton Woods in February 2004. He then knocked out Jones seven months later.
Johnson doesn't really have knockout power. I think he puts enough mustard on his punches to hurt Tarver if Tarver comes out tenative, but he's not going to be staring up at the lights the way Roy was. Both of these guys have good experience against similar opposition. Tarver is fresher but perhaps rustier. He will have a lot of opportunities to counter Johnson, and his overhand left is no joke. Tarver's southpaw stance should help negate Johnson's good jab. This is a fight that Tarver should win, but it comes down to intangibles. Johnson is going to be firing with bad intentions, and if he lands the right punches at the right moments, he can take controll and win this fight.
i cant even this crap is gonna happen, how did Johnson get a belt anyway, hes not even top 10....just because you beat an already beat roy jones didnt mean you can beat tarver
I agree Johnson is crap. This is not a fight to get excited over.
i cant even this crap is gonna happen, how did Johnson get a belt anyway, hes not even top 10....just because you beat an already beat roy jones didnt mean you can beat tarver
just wait till briggs gets in there with tarver, then ya'll really see how much of a pompus lil pansy he really is, with his sparkling purple shorts. His gonna get ripped apart.
Tarver has already been stripped of WBC title. He was WBA super chmp and Fabrice Torzio was WBA champ. But now the WBC has officially stripped Tarver, i am not sure he retains the WBA title. Johnson is free to defend his IBF title because his win over Woods was a mandatory because the title was vacant. He won the title less than a year ago and thus is got forced a mandatory until that year completes!
LOS ANGELES -- Antonio Tarver, one of the leading contenders for fighter of the year honors, has agreed to meet Glen Johnson in a light heavyweight title unification bout on December 18 at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.
Tarver battered Roy Jones Jr. in May and holds the WBC 175-pound title.
Johnson, who stunned Jones in September, holds the IBF belt.
Likely the last major fight fight of the year, the winner almost assuredly will earn the distinction as the best boxer of 2004.
"It is an honor for me to promote a bout that I believe will go down in the books as one of the best light heavyweight championship fights of this era," promoter Joe DeGuardia said. "Antonio and Glen are gentlemen outside of the ring, but in it, they will both fight ferociously to earn the respect of the public."
Tarver (22-2, 18 KOs), who won a bronze medal for the United States in the 1996 Olympic games, lost a controversial decision to Jones in November 2003. He avenged that defeat with a shocking second-round knockout of Jones five months later.
Johnson (41-9-2, 28 KOs), a native of Jamaica, captured the title with a unanimous decision over Clinton Woods in February 2004. He then knocked out Jones seven months later.
Come on now, INFAMOUZ! Just yesterday you posted how Tarver had til tomorrow to fight Briggs before being stripped. Now you're saying this would be a "unification" match - but it would obviously only unify one belt and Tarver's super belt (if he even still has it - fightnews.com lists only Tiozzo as WBA champ, whereas Tarver's name should be listed too if he's a "superchamp". That's not much "unifying" going on if the WBC belt is open and the WBO belt is somebody else's And there's a separate WBA Champ!
I know you just cut and pasted an article but come on...
yes it would be a unification bout but they will probably both be stripped of their belts if they dont make mandatory defenses (tarver has to fight briggs, not sure about johnson)
Johnson's mandatory is Rico Hoye
yes it would be a unification bout but they will probably both be stripped of their belts if they dont make mandatory defenses (tarver has to fight briggs, not sure about johnson)