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Jack Welsh on Boxing
TAVER MAY NEED MORE THAN TALK FOR JONES
It has been some time since Roy Jones, Jr., has nursed a grudge
about an opponent like he has Antonio Tarver, who in recent
weeks has been leading the league in trash talk to hype their
showdown Saturday, Nov.8 with the WBC light heavyweight crown
on the line at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Before Jones wrote his own piece of history,
he was the undisputed light heavyweight monarch, giving it
all up to win John Ruiz’s
WBA heavyweight title Mar.1 on a unanimous decision in Vegas.
In the original, it was a different story for the 34-year-old
legend from Pensacola, Fla. Virtually a snap for Roy to move
from 175 and then to 193 pounds in bulking up to face the natural
heavyweight from New England.
With superior speed, power and agility, Jones
became the second boxer in history to take both the middleweight
and heavyweight
crowns, also the first in 106 years since Bob Fitzsimmons to
defeat James J. Corbett on Mar.17,1897 for boxing’s grandest
prize.
If Jones defeats Tarver, he will become the first in the
175-pound history to capture the heavyweight title and then
reduce to regain the light heavyweight crown again.
Upon arriving in the Valley of the Dollars, Jones wasted little
time in letting the media know he was still feeling the effects
of coming down from 195 to reach the division limit of 175.
The premier performer rarely had any weight problems winning
the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight
crowns after turning pro in 1989.
For Jones, the hardest task was getting under 195
pounds and shedding his stature as a full-fledged heavyweight.
“Once I got back down to 175, I began to feel comfortable
again. I had to run more and diet more. It seems like half
the time, you are thirsty and hungry. You are usually mad and
taking out your frustrations on everybody you run into,” the
fighter admitted.
“Nobody should be surprised when I say that Antonio
Tarver is the guy who will be paying for all this. With all
the heavyweights out there, Tarver is the only guy for me because
I wouldn’t have come down in boxing for anybody else
but him. There isn’t anybody in boxing he should be fighting
but me. That’s why I came to his weight, so I could destroy
him.”
Jones, with a glittering 48-1, 38 KOs resume, has
been known to take an easy road against some former challengers
where he has hardly broken a sweat but that approach doesn’t
apply to Tarver, also 34, out of Tampa, Fla., with 21-1,17
KOs credentials since turning pro in 1997.
Nevada’s licensed bookmakers have installed
Jones, earning $2 million, as a minus $8.00 favorite with
Tarver, collecting
$1 million, as a plus $6.00 for this 12-round pay-per-view
championship bout HBO is delivering at $45 per copy.
“The way I see it, I’m going to use Tarver’s
big mouth for a target and deliver a complete beating. If he
has any idea he’s going to beat Roy Jones, he has another
think coming. It’s ridiculous when Tarver tells the public
and the media that I have been running from him.look what I
gave up to take this fight. There is certainly more money fighting
as a heavyweight.” Jones said at Wednesday’s final
press conference. “I looked Tarver in the eye when we
are on the podium and told him I’m in Las Vegas to fight.
I also reminded this guy I had told him I would get to him
when his time had come every time he was begging me for a big
money fight. Well,Tarver’s time has almost come and I’ll
be surprising everybody the way I kick his butt. It’s
going to be a short night at the Mandalay.”
Alton Merkerson, Jones’ Las Vegas-based trainer, feels
the WBA heavyweight champion has never been sharper and well-motivated
for any fight even though he had an early struggle to come
down to 175. “Tarver is going to find out how much a
complete fighter Roy Jones really is, everything from speed,
accuracy, power, adjusting to style on both defense and offense.
There is no debate, the Florida super star
is truly one of boxings all-time greats. Antonio Tarver will
get the message
early.” Jones’ only loss was a freak action when
he was disqualified in the ninth round for fouling Montell
Griffin Mar.21,1997 in Atlantic City. Jones demanding a rematch,
got it Aug.7 in Ledyard, Ct., where he scored a one-round TKO
to regain the WBC light heavyweight title.
Ironically, Tarver had the same opponent when
he won the vacant WBC/IBF light heavyweight diadem with a
12-round unanimous
decision over Griffin last Apr.28 in Ledyard, Ct . Tarver started
taking pot shots at Jones in the post-fight media conference
after the latter took Ruiz’s WBA heavyweight crown Mar.1
at the Thomas & Mack Arena and hasn’t taken a breather
since.
Just last week, the promotion had a media
conference call from Tarver’s camp in Tampa, Fla., and the champion had
a field day in letting the world know what he was goiing to
do to the sport’s pound-for-pound standout.
“
Perhaps Roy Jones doesn’t know it, but he’s facing
the most dangerous fighter he ever met. Not about it it, I’ll
destroy him. I’m the eighth southpaw Jones has faced
but none have shown the power I have in both hands. The man
is suppose to be invincible and unstoppable, but when I hear
that I can only say just bring him on. I’m hungry and
that means, I am ready,” Tarver declared.
“The way I see it after his win over Ruiz, there is
a lot of risk and no reward for Jones. It looks like for the
first time in his outstanding career, the risk outweighs the
reward for Roy. To be the man, you have to beat the man, and
that’s the opportunity before me.
Tarver, a bronze medalist at 178 in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics,
suffered his only loss as a pro against the highly-regarded
Eric Harding on a 12-round decision June 23, 2000 in Biloxi,
MS.
Tarver suffered a broken jaw in the final
round, explaining to the media, “I wasn’t prepared for the first
Harding fight but I was winning on all scorecards when the
broken jaw occurred.” Tarver posted two TKOs in 2001
and moved in line for his coveted shot at Jones last year,
winning a split-decision over Reggie Johnson for the NABF and
USBA light heavyweight titles and then avenging the Harding
loss with a five-round TKO at Indianapolis on July 20. It was
the springboard for the April decision over Griffin for the
WBC/ IBF 175-pounds crowns.
Like Sugar Shane Mosley Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya, Jones
and Tarver met as amateurs. The venue was the 1984 Sunshine
State Games where Tarver lost a split decision to Jones.
The politics have been well documented in the last few days
but Tarver has abdicated the IBF 175-pound crown on what he
calls a conflict in interest and will only be risking the WBC
championship when he steps into the ring against Jones.
Perhaps the biggest controversy settled smoothly involved
which fighter was introduced in the ring first. For a moment,
it appeared Marc Ratner, the Nevada
State Athletic Commission’s executive director, would
flip a $25,000 casino chip for a heads or tails call.
Jones alleviated Ratner’s duty when
he acknowledged the tradition of boxing insists the challenger
is introduced
first and the champion last.
“I acknowledge Tarver as the champion and I’ll
be the first in the ring, but I definitely will be the last
to leave.”
(Jack Welsh is a syndicated columnist headquartered in Las
Vegas and a regular contributor to Ringsports.com and other
fine websites.)
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