Something to consider about Tarver/Jones

[Fox McCloud]

In the third fight... Roy Jones Jr. actually looked like he had his reflexes back... he was just afraid to throw. The 5th round shows how good he looked if he would have just fired.

Anyway, that, coupled with the fact that he was trying to be overly defensive... to the point that he was more interested in getting away from punches than creating his own offense, makes it pretty astounding what Tarver did in the 10th (I think it was the 10th).

Tarver was able to catch Jones with a right hook (he is not known for having a powerful right hook. He is more known for his heavy straight left), and hurt him badly.

Althought everyone seems to think that Tarver is just a decent fighter who got lucky, he showed quite a bit against Jones in the first and second fight (when Jones looked pretty shot), and looked good in the third fight (when Jones was just hesitant to throw).

I am really starting to think that Antonio is a HELL of a lot better than people make him out to be. That Hopkins fight is the only bad moment of his career for the most part (minus when his jaw was busted in half against Harding, which he later avenged), and that was NOT an accurate representation of what Antonio Tarver can do when he is on his game.

[Mike_R]

yeah but he's an ******* and talks like he's floyd mayweather- only difference is floyd still has an egg on his record.

no charisma = no career
unless youre just that good. which tarver isn't

[KESSLER]

I agree, Tarver is a reaaaally good fighter. People seem to forget that ... About the Hopkins fight, you never know which Tarver is gonna show up. Sometimes, he looks very beatable, other times, it looks as if you have to kill him.

[Fox McCloud]

yeah but he's an ******* and talks like he's floyd mayweather- only difference is floyd still has an egg on his record.

no charisma = no career
unless youre just that good. which tarver isn't

You don't think Tarver is "that good"?

He has some damn good wins.

Jones (twice), and the loss was an instance where the loser got beat up a lot less than the winner.
Johnson, in a pretty lopsided fight, as well as a decision that made me scratch my head when they gave the first fight to Johnson. I thought Tarver won that one too.
Woods, who is a multiple time LHW champ.

Really, Tarver has kind of separated himself from the LHW division, minus Hopkins and Calzaghe. I would be interested to see him in against both (Hopkins a second time).

I agree, Tarver is a reaaaally good fighter. People seem to forget that ... About the Hopkins fight, you never know which Tarver is gonna show up. Sometimes, he looks very beatable, other times, it looks as if you have to kill him.

The weird thing about the Hopkins fight...

Tarver looks bad when he is lethargic and lazy, basically, no workrate.

But in the Hopkins fight, it wasn't workrate that was the problem. It was him being about as far from sharp as any elite fighter has in a big fight since Tyson against Douglas. He just looked terrible. Tired in the first round, no accuracy, no ring intelligence, etc.

[MANGLER]

I give Tarver his biggest props for winnin the rematch wit Glen Johnson. That to me was more impressive than anything he did against RJ. He blew the 1st fight which looked winnable as hell if he woulda stepped his game up. They flipped the script on that in the 3rd fight. And in between he got lucky and KO'd Roy wit one of those out of nowhere shots that Roy didn't see comin. A KO is still a KO and there's no denyin Tarver put RJ to sleep and won that fight fair and square regardless of how it happened, but it didn't prove he was the great fighter he claims to be, or even that he's a better fighter than RJ.

[KESSLER]

You don't think Tarver is "that good"?

He has some damn good wins.

Jones (twice), and the loss was an instance where the loser got beat up a lot less than the winner.
Johnson, in a pretty lopsided fight, as well as a decision that made me scratch my head when they gave the first fight to Johnson. I thought Tarver won that one too.
Woods, who is a multiple time LHW champ.

Really, Tarver has kind of separated himself from the LHW division, minus Hopkins and Calzaghe. I would be interested to see him in against both (Hopkins a second time).



The weird thing about the Hopkins fight...

Tarver looks bad when he is lethargic and lazy, basically, no workrate.

But in the Hopkins fight, it wasn't workrate that was the problem. It was him being about as far from sharp as any elite fighter has in a big fight since Tyson against Douglas. He just looked terrible. Tired in the first round, no accuracy, no ring intelligence, etc.

Yeah that is true, he did look horrible in that fight.

Oh, and he beat Rocky Balboa.. Don't forget that.

[Fox McCloud]

Oh yeah, and now that I have rewatched the rematch between Tarver and Jones... Tarver originally did have his head down when he started throwing the punch, but definately did look up so he could see where he would land it, which obviously contributed to the accuracy of the shot.

[Silencers]

He's a pretty good fighter but he's overrated by some.

Jones could've won the third fight if he wasn't so scared and he looked all the things that were wrong with him in the Hopkins fight, I thought I saw in the last few rounds of the Jones fight. Fatigue, workrate etc. all looked pretty bad in the last few rounds, I think it was Manny Steward who said Tarver was ready to go down just because of fatigue against Jones, the fight wasn't exactly a barnburner.

[THE REED]

Oh yeah, and now that I have rewatched the rematch between Tarver and Jones... Tarver originally did have his head down when he started throwing the punch, but definately did look up so he could see where he would land it, which obviously contributed to the accuracy of the shot.

dude if u have ur head down when u start throwing a punch... u cant even see where its goin... he was hopin for some **** right there...


but nonetheless...

tarver is a very good fighter, and a champion, nobody can take that from him...

[Fox McCloud]

dude if u have ur head down when u start throwing a punch... u cant even see where its goin... he was hopin for some **** right there...


but nonetheless...

tarver is a very good fighter, and a champion, nobody can take that from him...

The shot started out without the intent of landing flush on the chin, but a lot of people describe it as Tarver with his head down and eyes closed... not quite the case.