How good was/is Antonio tarver?

**Mato o Muero** · 11-23-2012, 06:16 PM

He was good not great. He jumped on Roy right after the Ruiz fight because he knew Roy wouldn't be the same after dropping from heavyweight in such a short period of time. Prime Roy destroys him.

**WolfGirl** · 11-23-2012, 06:20 PM

Antonio Tarver was a homeless man's Michael Spinks.

That being said, Tarver always would have given Roy a tough fight. His ability to use his height along with his southpaw stance would have kept him relatively competitive in the early rounds.

Tarver would always pose problems for Roy. Maybe not enough to beat him in his prime but enough to make it a very competitive fight.

Tarver was pretty good at getting to the center of the ring and branching out from there with his defense/feints/counter punching against faster more athletic opponents. Obviously Griffin did a lot of the same things and it worked really really well for stretches against Prime Jones. Tarver have a better chin than Griffin and is definitely capable of taking more punishment.

The issue is that Prime Roy Jones would have forced Tarver out of his counter/punching defensive style and had the power/speed to deal out punishment AT THE SAME TIME having the reflexes/agility to avoid punishment.

That last part is crucial because even though he DID force Tarver out of his comfort zone at times during their actual fights, old Roy no longer had the reflexes to avoid punishment and was hurt himself as well.

I can not tell if Jone's chin got worst because of weight drain/age or his chin was always weak, but during his youth he just had the surreal speed/reflexes to get away with a weak chin.

This is why I will favor a Prime Spinks over Jones at 175- 9 out of 10 times. I lean a bit towards 'Roy's chin was never strong, but in his youth he was just amazingly fast'.
Against someone of Spink's caliber, no matter how fast you are the Jinx will hit you eventually and from than on out it's lights/curtains.

**Mike Tyson77** · 11-23-2012, 06:23 PM

He's an ATG, a 4 time world champ. He's a legend.

**-PBP-** · 11-23-2012, 06:25 PM

Good champion. Powerful left hand. Nothing special.

The best win of his career were obviously the 2 wins over Roy Jones. I think he caught Roy at the perfect time and would not beat a prime Roy.

Tough losses to Glen Johnson and Eric Harding which were both avenged. Clinton Woods, Montell Griffin and Reggie Johnson were also way past prime when Tarver caught them. He missed out on his opportunity to be great by suffering losses to Hopkins and Chad Dawson.

So other than the wins over Roy, is resume is extremely mediocre at best.

**Mr. Fantastic** · 11-23-2012, 06:26 PM

He's better than what most people give him credit for. I was once one of those guys and was ignorant on what he's done. Dude was a top guy for many many years at his weight. That's not an easy thing to do considering the ratings change so much and you see guys falling in and out. I also got to see more of his earlier fights and he was better than what I thought. My 2c.

This is putting the steroid issue to the side of course.

**WolfGirl** · 11-23-2012, 06:26 PM

This is funny, because if Roy had like a Hagler chin. I think he would have beaten Tarver again, 7-5. Then his confidence would never have left and he would have beaten Johnson and go on all the way up to Calzaghe.
Against Joe, he was just too old and his reflexes have slowed down to the point where it's hard for him to do anything.

If you watch a lot of these 'Shot Roy' fights, he was still capable of winning rounds, it's always one shot that turned the fight against him.

**#1Assassin** · 11-23-2012, 06:40 PM

Originally posted by Mato o Muero

He was good not great. He jumped on Roy right after the Ruiz fight because he knew Roy wouldn't be the same after dropping from heavyweight in such a short period of time. Prime Roy destroys him.

to say he jumped on roy after the ruiz fight is 100% false, he had been openly challenging him for years. the reason it didnt happen before the ruiz fight is 100% bcuz of roy, then tarver forced his hand by winning his old titles at 175 when roy moved up.

to answer TS question tarver was a great fighter. he had it all, skills intelligence and athletisism. an intelligent lefty who knew hot to use his stance to gain an advantage, knew how to fight in general. underrated as an athlete, he was big, tall, fast and powerful. he was very fundamentally sound, amongst the best defensive fighters of his era with one of the best southpaw jabs ever, good boxing and counterpunching skills and one punch KO power in his left hand.

i would rank him 5-8 all time at 175 and about teh same p4p in his era, very underrated and underappreciated fighter. i dont think he would have defeated a prime RJJ but i know roy wouldnt have handled him the same way he did other fighters at 175 in his prime. look at all the trouble harding gave roy in his prime, even though tarver went just 1-1 with harding he was a notch above him imo. he would give prime RJJ a very tough fight, roy would beat him though.

**illmaticfighter** · 11-23-2012, 06:54 PM

most of you aren't also factoring in the fact that tarver started late in his career had drugs problems as well he wasn't a born fighter like roy.

**Rat_Poison** · 11-23-2012, 06:54 PM

world class

How good was/is Antonio tarver?