BraggingRightsCorner.com - "Johnson Outworks Tarver, Earns a Split Decision "... by Oleg Bershadsky

After both Antonio Tarver and Glenn Johnson had their career defining moments with consecutive knockouts of Roy Jones Jr., it was only natural that their next fight would be against each other. Both fighters gave up their respective championship belts to make this fight happen and we are certainly glad they did. Not only was this a good business decision for both fighters who made a significantly larger amount than they would have otherwise, but they also gave us the best possible match-up available in the light heavyweight division. This was an exciting, action-filled fight and one of the best light heavyweight battles in recent memory.
From the outset Glenn Johnson showed that he came to fight and that he was determined to outwork Antonio Tarver. Outwork him is exactly what Johnson did, as he severely out- landed the cautious and crafty Tarver in the first round, while also landing a number of hard body shots meant to slow down his heavy hitting opponent. In round 2, Tarver showcased his skills as he patiently waited for openings to counter the very busy Johnson. Tarver picking up his activity level gave Johnson all he could handle as he pounded him with straight left hands while backing up and trying to create punching room.

For the next 7 rounds the fight would be a contest of wills and effectiveness as each boxer would try to impose his own strategy and style on the other. The shorter Johnson using good head and body movement tried to take the fight up close where Tarver couldn’t use his long reach. Tarver on the other hand, moved backwards and side to side trying to create room for his jab and long left hands. Each fighter was partially successful with applying his strategy and this created an exciting seesaw battle that had each fighter wary and tired by round 10. While Tarver landed the heavier shots Johnson was the busier of the two and fought at a pace that seemed slightly out of Tarver’s comfort level.

In round ten, the exhausted Tarver who seemed spent after his impressive barrage against Johnson in round 9 basically decided to take the round off and in retrospect this decision probably cost him the fight. Round 11 was a toe-to-toe battle that had Tarver landing hard left hands that hurt Johnson at one point in the round, but the courageous Johnson came back in the later portion of the round making it the most exciting round of the fight. Round 12 was almost the mirror image of round 11 as Tarver once again hurt Johnson with a straight left and as before the courageous Johnson came back firing. Both fighters looking tired and worn from this closely contested battle used the remaining energy they had to finish the round in a championship fashion. In the end it was Glenn Johnson victorious by a controversial split decision (116-112 Tarver, 115-113/115-113 Johnson).

While I personally thought that Tarver won the fight I can’t complain because neither fighter dominated the other and each round was closely contested. So hats off to both fighters for giving us an exciting fight and showing that there is life after Roy Jones in the light heavyweight division. This was simply a case of one boxer landing the more accurate and meaningful shots, while the other boxer was the busier of the two and controlled the pace of the fight. In this case the judges went with the later one of the two, but that is not even the least of what’s important here. What’s important is that the light heavyweight division has life again and that we can look forward to perhaps a rematch between these two exciting fighters. Whoever said that you can’t be in the prime of your career at 35 and 36 years of age was definitely not talking about Tarver and Johnson because from where I stood these two fighters looked like they have a lot more boxing ahead of them. Now let’s make this rematch happen!

12-18-2004