TARVER
VS. JONES 3 Saturday, October 1
Tampa, Florida
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Tampa, Florida (IB-10/1/2005) – In front of a highly-charged and energetic crowd
at the St Pete Forum, in Tampa, Florida, and
televised to millions on HBO PPV,
Antonio Tarver showed the boxing community and the fight fans that it is he, who
stands as supreme in the Light Heavyweight division. Tarver improved his record
to (24-3, 18 KOs) by winning a unanimous decision over Roy Jones Jr. (44-3, 38
KOs) by scores of 116-112 by judges Paul Herman & Michael Pernick and 117-111 by
judge Peter Trematerra to retain his IBO light heavyweight championship.
This fight actually turned out to be much like I had anticipated it would. The big question was answered, how much risk was Roy willing to take? Answer: Not enough to take the champion’s title! More
Tampa, FL
(Inside Boxing, October 1,2005) - Antonio Tarver easily defended his world
light heavyweight belt by scoring a 12-
round
unanimous decision over Roy Jones Jr. Saturday night at the St. Pete Times
Forum, in the finale of a heated trilogy between two marquee boxers.
It's been a long-standing of mutual respect for Jones and Tarver. The two men have known each other since the age of 13 when they fought at the Sunshine State Games in Florida. Jones, the former undisputed light heavyweight champion and a titlist in four divisions, beat Tarver in a controversial majority decision in November of 2003. However, it was a lopsided affair in this one, as Jones looked old and slow while Tarver was relentless in the ring and it showed on the scorecard. The 36-year-old Jones, who was a four-division champion and dubbed “the king in the ring” for a decade, looked more like a journeyman fighter holding on for one last shot. The veteran was very reluctant to engage with Tarver, allowing him to dictate the fight and land enough shots to pile up points on the scorecard. When it was all said and down, the judges had it 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112 for Tarver (24-3). More
Tampa, Florida (IB 9/30/2005) – As we countdown to tomorrow night’ return of Roy Jones Jr. (49-3, 38 KOs) coming back to take on Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver (23-3, 18 KOs), in Tampa, Florida and televised on HBO PPV, plenty of fans are curious to know; how much risk is Roy willing to take? This is a very good question and one that should dictate what type of bout we are about to witness. More
INSIDE BOXING (9/23/2005) – It’s hard to imagine that I would be writing a story whereas Roy Jones Jr. (49-3, 38 KOs) would be fighting to preserve his legacy. That is exactly what he will be doing when he steps into the ring in a quest to reclaim his fame against Antonio “ Magic Man” Tarver (23-3, 18 KOs) on October 1st in Tarver’s hometown of Tampa, Florida and televised on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Let’s face it, Roy Jones Jr. was the longest reigning Pound-For-Pound fighter in the business since this title has been placed on fighters. Then, on a hot summer night in Las Vegas back in May of 2004, Jones’ legacy was drastically tarnished by one thunderous left hook by Tarver in the 2nd round that put the Great RJJ on his back and KOed! This event sent shock waves throughout the capacity crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, as well as throughout the boxing community. Then to make matters worse, four months later, RJJ makes a comeback and gets knocked out cold in the 9th round against Glen Johnson in Memphis, Tennessee. More