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CLASSY ANTONIO TARVER LOSES TITLE BUT EARNS RESPECT
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CLASSY ANTONIO TARVER LOSES TITLE BUT EARNS RESPECT
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Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino hosted the evening of boxing, with HBO airing the show on a pay per view basis. The main event of the evening a light heavyweight championship bout between defending champion Antonio Tarver and challenger Roy Jones, Jr.
The word challenger somehow doesn't seem to apply well to the name of Roy Jones, since throughout his career he has held so many titles. Nevertheless, for the second time in as many fights, Jones was coming in to take someone's hardware. He was successful against a slumbering John Ruiz several months ago, at a heavier weight class, a title he challenged for only to prove that he could and would win, which he did. Mr. Jones' ego knows no boundaries. To satisfy his ego again, Jones decided -and the boxing world breathlessly followed his lead- that he would take on Antonio Tarver's challenge. An ass kicking was promised by Jones, who at the time didn't seem to be overly concerned about the dramatic weight loss that would have to take place in order for him to fight Tarver. Egos have to be fed at whatever cost, and so, we come full circle to last night's bout. Ring entrance protocol dictated that the champion entered last, although even this simple detail proved a bone of contention with Jones' camp. They eventually conceded to the champion and the ring walk showed a very elegant, (outfit by Grant), confident and relaxed looking Antonio Tarver. Roy Jones -on the other hand- seemed drawn and pale, his out of this world attitude missing from the walk. A sign of things to come? We would soon find out, but please do keep in mind that the fight was taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada. I must confess that when the bell rang to start the action, I got a Derrick Gainer flashback, actually the foul odor still carried over from his smokeless performance against Marquez. I wondered if perhaps "Gaineritis" was contagious, and when Jones complained of a phantom low blow as the opening round was coming to an end I became concerned that the disease might have spread. As the night progressed, I realized that there are many degrees of "Gaineritis." I watched Roy throw one punch at a time for what seemed like an eternity. He repeatedly leaped in with his punches, a move that looked great against the likes of Australian garbage collector turned mandated challenger Gunga Kelly, or most of the other civil servants Jones has fought in recent years, but why wasn't it clicking tonight? Perhaps because for the first time in a very long time, Mr. Jones was in with a live body, a talented young fighter who was hell bent on not only defending his title but proving to the world that Roy Jones Jr. was human -and beatable- after all. And so it went, with Tarver assaulting Jones on the ropes like I had never seen it done before, and Jones leaping in and connecting mostly with body shots when the action moved to center stage. The better shots, the more accurate punches seem to come from Tarver, who managed to have Jones looking like he had been in a real fight for a change. Even between rounds, Jones seemed to be struggling, winded, tired, totally wasted physically. Maybe a shot of Ripped Fuel could have helped, or maybe his much publicized sinus problem was acting up... Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to go there... By the 8th round I was thinking to myself that no matter which way the wind blew when the cards were tallied, Antonio Tarver had already won by making the so called best fighter on the planet look so vulnerable and ordinary. There was nothing special about Jones' performance last night, and I don't care to buy into the weight loss melodrama, because no one forced Roy to fight at this weight class. I thought it of interest that when the fight ended, Jones dejectedly walked back to his corner, none of the ebullience of other performances present. The scoring in Las Vegas continues to be a problem, and it is of particular interest here because of the major fights hosted in Sin City. Glen Hamada's 117-111 score for Jones should in itself warrant an investigation. Judge Dave Harris scored it 116-112 for Jones and Jerry Roth saw it 114 all. How can three people watch the same fight and interpret it so differently? Is it time for the Sweet Science to catch up to all other sports and display open scoring? I don't know, but the same old story is getting very old and very stale. Roy Jones Jr. looking worn, old and bruised reclaims the belt he vacated in pursuit of bigger and better things, although he wasn't able to make good on the ass kicking promise. Antonio Tarver will hopefully learn a lot from his losing effort. He could have and should have been more active; he should have and could have forced the action in the middle of the ring, no doubt. Experience was in Jones' corner, and gave him the edge in the fight. Tarver should also recognize that he made many, many fans, and that in the end, it's not always about winning, but about how well you play the game that truly matters. To the many aficionados who loudly and persistently chanted "BULL%#@" while Merchant stroked Jones' battered ego in the post fight interview I say... yeap, in many ways it was! In other action, Ronald "Winky" Wright successfully defended his IBF junior middleweight title against a very game Angel "El Toro" Hernandez. Hernandez managed to turn Wright into a brawler, in a very exciting and action packed bout, where the participants were seen touching gloves at the end of several rounds out of respect for their work, both acknowledging each other's effort. Wright connected with more punches (253-196); he cut Hernandez below his right eye in the middle rounds and bloodied his nose. The judges scored the fight 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111 in Wright's favor. His record improves to 46-3 with 25 knockouts. Was Wright's performance attractive enough to land the big fish in his next outing(s)? Probably not, but I urge Wright to remain in this weight class, Bernard Hopkins should remain out of the question. Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor remains undefeated after totally dominating -as expected- Rogelio "El Kuco" Martinez in 7 rounds. Ditto on Bernard Hopkins here, at least for now...
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