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Ric Flair once quipped “To be the man, you have to beat the man.” Well Antonio Tarver is the man after dispatching Roy Jones Jr. Not taking anything away from Tarver, who is a class act outside the ring, an efficient technician within the squared circle, and one of the best trash talkers in recent memory. But let’s not kid anyone; he is NOT an all-time great (yet).
Being an all-time great means sustaining a level of unmatched dominance over a length of time. Quite frankly other than Jones, the resume is lacking the necessary firepower for that type of talk. What two wins over Jones does make Tarver is one of the better fighters of this era. Iran Barkley beat Thomas Hearns, Larry Donald defeated Evander Holyfield, and Frankie Randall defeated Julio Cesar Chavez. Good fighters but not all time greats.
Quotable: “I bring families together.” – Antonio Tarver
“I would knock Ray out in two rounds.” - Bernard Hopkins responding to a question asking how Sugar Ray Leonard would fare against him on ESPN’s Cold Pizza.
Special note to Diego Corrales, please leave Jose Luis Castillo alone. History is not kind to the fighter who wins the first bout in a trilogy and then loses the second. There are many different spins going on through the media about Castillo never intending to make weight, the legitimacy of the rib injury, and Corrales himself saying he just made a “mistake” by dropping his hands. [details]
Being an all-time great means sustaining a level of unmatched dominance over a length of time. Quite frankly other than Jones, the resume is lacking the necessary firepower for that type of talk. What two wins over Jones does make Tarver is one of the better fighters of this era. Iran Barkley beat Thomas Hearns, Larry Donald defeated Evander Holyfield, and Frankie Randall defeated Julio Cesar Chavez. Good fighters but not all time greats.
Quotable: “I bring families together.” – Antonio Tarver
“I would knock Ray out in two rounds.” - Bernard Hopkins responding to a question asking how Sugar Ray Leonard would fare against him on ESPN’s Cold Pizza.
Special note to Diego Corrales, please leave Jose Luis Castillo alone. History is not kind to the fighter who wins the first bout in a trilogy and then loses the second. There are many different spins going on through the media about Castillo never intending to make weight, the legitimacy of the rib injury, and Corrales himself saying he just made a “mistake” by dropping his hands. [details]