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Height – 6-2 ½
Weight – 175
Date of Birth –
November 21, 1968
Birthplace –
Orlando, FL
Resides –
Tampa, FL
Stance –
Southpaw
Trainer – Buddy
McGirt
Promoter – Star
Boxing (Joe DeGuardia)
Record – 23-3,
18 KOs
They call world light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver “Magic
Man” for a number of reasons – maybe it’s because he has made 23
opponents disappear in the ring; maybe it’s because his remarkable
skills recall the sleight of hand made famous by Houdini. But more
likely, Tarver is known as the “Magic Man” because in a short four
year period, he has helped take a sport in the doldrums to the next
level, exciting mainstream sports fans as well as hardcore fight
followers – a task many believed was impossible.
That’s “Magic”.
But even though Tarver resides at the top of the boxing heap here in
2005, his journey begins in Orlando, Florida, where he was born on
November 21, 1968. At the tender age of 10, Tarver began boxing at
a local Boys’ Club, but five years later he gave up the sport after
his family relocated to a different neighborhood. Oddly enough,
during those first five years in the sport he happened to fight a
young man who would play a major role in his career later on – Roy
Jones Jr.
Concentrating on football and other teenage pursuits in his high
school years, boxing was the furthest thing from Antonio’s mind
until 1988, when he saw his old rival Jones fighting for the United
States in the Seoul Olympic Games.
Motivated to go back into the ring, Tarver
tore through the amateur ranks in the next eight years, earning a
spot on the US Olympic team that went to Atlanta in 1996. In ‘96,
Antonio made history, becoming
the only US amateur boxer ever to win the national championships,
the Pan-Am games and the world championships all in one year. At
the world championships, he beat future cruiserweight champion
Vassiliy Jirov in the semifinals and then Diosvany Vega in the
finals, four months prior to the Olympics.
But Tarver feels he was cheated at the
Olympic games, where he eventually won a Bronze medal. “I dominated
the second round of the fight I lost (to Jirov) and came out two
points down. I’ve always had great defense and when I look back at
the fight now, I don’t see how he was scoring any blows.”
Disappointed but not discouraged,
Tarver made his professional debut at the age of 28 on February 18,
1997, with a second round TKO of Joaquin Garcia.
Moving up the ranks without the media
spotlight that was shining on some of his fellow Olympians, Tarver
came up the hard way, fighting in front of demanding crowds in such
boxing hotspots as the legendary Blue Horizon in Philadelphia. But
these fights steeled Tarver’s resolve and helped make him the
fighter he is today.
There was something missing though, and
it was evident on June 23, 2000, when the 16-0 Tarver suffered the
first defeat of his professional career to Eric Harding. In a hard
fought 12 round title eliminator, Tarver dominated the first half of
the bout, but after having his jaw broken in the ninth round, it
became an uphill battle, and Harding finished strong, knocking
Tarver down in the 11th round en route to the decision
win. It was a tough defeat to swallow, but Tarver showed his
championship heart.
“I’m not making excuses, but if you look at the fight, I dominated
until my jaw got broke,” said Tarver. “With the broken jaw, I was
unable to finish as strongly as I wanted to. Look at the first nine
rounds, its obvious who the better fighter was.”
Looking to erase the mistakes of the past to become a complete
fighting machine from bell to bell, Tarver enlisted the services of
former world champion Buddy McGirt and conditioning coach Dudley
Pierce to help him reach those goals.
After allowing his jaw to heal, the new
Team Tarver - which also includes his promoter Joe DeGuardia and
Star Boxing – got back to work in February of 2001, and the results
were amazing. Previously unbeaten Lincoln Carter and highly
regarded Chris Johnson were both stopped in devastating fashion in
2001, and on January 25, 2002, Tarver earned a shot at the IBF light
heavyweight title with a 12 round decision win over Reggie Johnson,
a victory that also earned Antonio the NABF and USBA 175-pound
titles.
Most fighters would have sat back in an easy chair and waited for
their title shot to arrive. Not Antonio Tarver. On July 20, 2002,
he put his guaranteed title shot on the line against the only man to
ever beat him, Eric Harding. It was a risky move, but one that only
true champions will make. And in just five rounds, Tarver had
avenged his defeat via TKO.
Nine months later, on April 26, 2003, Tarver finally got his world
title shot and made the most of it, shutting out former world
champion Montell Griffin over 12 rounds to win the vacant WBC and
IBF titles.
But there was something missing, and that was Roy Jones Jr.
On November 8, 2003, Tarver finally pushed Jones into a title fight,
and what a fight it was, a 12 round battle that saw the pound for
pound king punished by Tarver like he had never been before. Yet
when the decision was announced Jones had regained his championship
belts via a highly controversial majority decision.
Boxing fans wouldn’t stand for this though, and neither would the
powers that be in the sport, all of whom demanded a rematch.
That rematch came on May 15, 2004, and with Tarver’s now immortal
question “You got any excuses tonight, Roy?” ringing in the ears of
fight fans, one of the most memorable nights in recent history
kicked off. Two rounds later, Tarver landed the shot heard ‘round
the boxing world, a single left hand that knocked Jones out for the
first time in his magnificent career, and after years of blood,
sweat, and tears, the world found out what Antonio Tarver already
knew – he was a star.
Antonio was boxing’s talk of the town after defeating Jones, and he
fulfilled numerous television, radio, and print media obligations
after his amazing victory. And while some fighters would have been
content with a couple of easy title defenses against unknown
opponents, for Tarver’s first fight back, on December 18, 2004, he
would face the second man to send Jones crashing to the canvas, Glen
Johnson.
It was a bout that was an early Christmas present to fight fans, as
both warriors – unquestionably the two best 175-pounders in the word
– battled it out for 12 hard fought rounds at the Staples Center in
Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Tarver would lose a highly
controversial split decision that night, a verdict many at ringside
felt was unjust.
This is Antonio Tarver we’re talking about though, and past history
showed that he was always twice as dangerous in a rematch. On June
18, 2005, at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee, Tarver regained
his light heavyweight championship with a stirring 12 round
unanimous decision over Johnson, re-establishing his supremacy at
175 pounds.
To many fight fans, Tarver’s win just reinforced what they always
believed – that “The Magic Man” is one of boxing’s best, pound for
pound. But the man Tarver took that crown from – Roy Jones Jr. – is
still not convinced, and on October 1, these two rivals will fight
for a third time in a rubber match that the boxing world is eagerly
anticipating.
It should undoubtedly be another magical night. |
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