Roy Jones musta forgot to duck on Saturday night in his rematch bout with Antonio Tarver.  Their first bout ended in a close decision for Jones, although many thought Tarver won; of course no one thought that more than Tarver himself. The rematch would allow the "Magic Man" to prove he should have gotten the nod the first go around. 

Many picked Tarver to loose soundly the second time around because hey, nobody beats a motivated Roy Jones, right? Wrong! But even those who did pick Tarver to win the rematch never guessed he would win in the fashion he did.

Following referee Jay Nady's instructions to both fighters in the center of the ring, he asked did either man have any questions. Without skipping a beat Tarver shouted, "Are you going to have any excuses this time Roy?" ... And with that being said the bell rang and the first round began.

The opening round went as many thought it would with Roy Jones dictating the fight in the middle of the ring.  Now I'll admit as soon as I saw how the fight progressed in the opener I thought the next eleven would be repeats. I couldn't have been more wrong. When the second round began I was just getting cozy on my couch, after all it was going to  be a long fight with Roy Jones having his way, right? Again, WRONG! Halfway through the round Tarver would land a counter left hand that would shock the world. I think it even shocked Antonio Tarver to a point. He didn't have a doubt in his mind he would win but only in his wildest dreams did he think he was going to score a second round one-punch knockout.

To Roy Jones' credit he did regain his footing but by then referee Jay Nady had reached the ten count and waived his hands to call an end to the fight. Roy Jones then stumbled into the ropes, still on very unsteady legs.

The night ended with a changing of the guard; the start of a new era, and the end of another. Boxing needs upsets like this as much as it needs superstars like Roy Jones. Antonio Tarver's record is now 22-2 (18 KO's) while Roy Jones drops to 49-2 (38 KO's).

 

On the undercard "Super" Zab Judah was far from super against veteran Rafael Pineda. Judah, who was fighting for the second time in just over a month, seemed more content to clown around than fight.

Larry Merchant's disgust for Judah was very obvious from about the fourth round on.  Larry's never been one to keep his feelings to himself. Pineda, who most expected wouldn't last long, gave Judah all he could handle throughout the twelve round fight.

Pineda was able to control the fight at times and win rounds. The only knockdown of the fight came in the seventh round when Zab Judah finally decided to open up and let his hands go but it wasn't enough to keep the smart veteran Pineda down for the count.

In the end Judah was very lucky to escape with a decision. The judges scored it 114-113, 115-112 for Judah and 115-112 Pineda. In my eyes this fight was a draw at best for Judah. Maybe the welterweight division isn't best suited for Judah or maybe he's just not the same fighter he once was, only time will tell. Judah ups his record to 31-2 (22 KO's) while Pineda drops to 38-6 (31 KO's).

 

Also on the televised card was a battle of heavyweights trying to get their names in what seems like a wide open division.  Former champion Bruce Seldon, who is on the comeback trail squared off against Gerald Nobles.

The last time many saw Seldon fight was his embarrassing loss to Mike Tyson eight years ago. The two fighters threw bombs in the first round and it seemed as if we were in for a treat heavyweight slugfest. A cut over Seldon's right eye  opened up after an  unintentional head butt. In the second round Seldon sent Nobles to the canvas with a left hook. Nobles got up and took control of the fight.

A clearly tired Seldon spent most of his time after that on the ropes trying to land a counter to get Nobles out of there. That counter would never land but Seldon did seem to land at will when he let his hands fly. After taking punishment round after round Seldon took a knee in round nine and didn't get up to finish the fight.

Nobles walked away with a ninth round knockout and improved  his record to 23-0 (18 KO's) while Seldon dropped to 35-5 (31 KO's).