Photos: Scott Foster

Saturday night in front of 12,000+at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee, light heavyweight Antonio Tarver (23-3, 18 KOs) boldly put his fists where his lips have been since his first fight with Roy Jones Jr. with a thrilling victory over “Gentleman” Glen Johnson (40-10-2, 28 KOs) Saturday night .

Hoping to reverse a split decision loss to Johnson, Tarver outboxed and outworked Johnson early on, throwing quick combinations and used ring movement to keep Johnson at bay.

Johnson began landing bombs to the body in round five, but Tarver regained control for a few rounds. Johnson began to move Tarver back in rounds eight and nine, but at the urging of trainer Buddy McGirt, Tarver outworked Johnson in the center of the ring in round ten.

Both fighters had their moments in round eleven, with Johnson charging hard at the bell. Tarver clinched his way through round twelve not allowing Johnson to get off at all. Scores were 116-112, 116-112, 115-113.

Although, the bout was not for any of the major light heavyweight titles, Tarver is now considered by most to be the top 175-pounder in the world. He has now reversed all three of his losses in rematches.

QUARTEY EDGES PHILLIPS

In a battle of former world champions, Ike "Bazooka" Quartey (36-2-1, 30 KOs) narrowly escaped with his second victory following a five-year layoff, rising from the canvas in the ninth to edge Verno Phillips (38-10-1, 30 KOs) in an exciting junior middleweight clash.

Phillips began strong, stinging Quartey with an explosive left hook in round one and a right uppercut to close round two. Quartey gained ground and galloped through the middle rounds like a quarter horse stretching for the finish.

Then, in round nine, a lead right landed for Phillips, who closed the combination with a left hook that crushed Quartey to the floor. Quartey up righted himself quickly, bouncing up and down on wobbly legs but stood straight by the count of ten and dug in to hold on for dear life. The duo terminated the round with a ferocious exchange that ended with Quartey stumbling to the floor as the bell sounded, which referee Randy Phillips immediately ruled a slip.

Digging deep, Quartey finished strong in the tenth to seal the round by trapping Phillips on the ropes and striking a hunched over Phillips until the bell sounded. In the end that was the difference in the fight as Quartey won 95-94 of two cards. The other card was 96-93.

WARD BOMBS ARAGON

Earlier, rising middleweight and Olympic gold medallist Andre Ward (4-0, 2 KOs) showcased his talent in stopping Ben Aragon (4-3-1, 4 KOs) in round three. Ward hammered a stiff jab into Aragon’s skull from the opening bell and started to dominate power shots with a left uppercut that staggered Aragon to close the second round.

Round three saw more of the same as Ward lead with the jab and struck with a left hook that staggered Aragon to the ropes where he swayed dazed, out on his feet. Referee Allan Lovell wisely jumped in and halted the bout at :59 in round three.

WOLFE CHEWS UP VALLEY

Female sensation Anne Wolfe (20-1, 14 KOs) continued to build her case that Laila Ali might not wish to taste this “Brown Sugar” as she pounded a very game Marsha Valley (10-11-4, 4 KOs) for sixth rounds en route to a stoppage in the super middleweight division.

Wolfe began landing hard left hooks early, but Valley absorbed them and landed a few shots of her own. But, Wolfe began to show dominance, closing the fifth with a Muhammad Ali-style shoeshine and an overhand right. This led her into the sixth round where she ploughed a left hook into Valley’s ribcage and sent her down in pain. Valley arose and traded with Wolfe, but another left hook sent her back to her knees where she again winced. Arising before the ten count, Valley could not continue and Wolfe earned the KO victory at 1:17 of round six.

SIM HALTS SIMMONS

Ex-lightweight champ Lakva Sim (20-4-1, 17 KOs) returned from his decision loss to Juan Diaz to steamroll Shawn Simmons (26-14-1, 16 KOs). In round one a right hand hurt Simmons. In round two another straight right hand dropped Simmons, who got up struggling to keep himself upright. Referee Allan Lovell halted the bout at 1:15 in round two.

MADDALONE CRUSHES MCKINNEY

Heavyweight Vinny Maddalone (24-2, 17 KOs) stopped journeyman fighter Dennis McKinney (26-32-1, 16 KOs) in round four. An overhand right in round three began the damage and resulted in a standing eight count. Then, in round four Maddalone landed at will upon the defenseless McKinney forcing McKinney’s corner to heave a towel into the ring to signal defeat.

PETERSON BROTHERS DESTROY FOES

Junior-welterweight Anthony Peterson (10-0, 7 KOs) needed just :28 to floor Anthony Middlebrooks (3-1, 3 KOs). Peterson landed a single left hook that ended the bout. Echoing across the canvas like a shotgun blast, Peterson struck with a left hook that sprawled Middlebrooks across the canvas face first, unable to rise at all before the ten count.

Lamont Peterson (11-0, 6 KOs) took control and scored a first round stoppage just like his brother, as John Frazier (4-12-1, 2 KOs) offered no method of halting his attack. A left-right combination dropped Frazier first followed by a straight left that ended the fight.

MORE UNDERCARD RESULTS

Featherweight Rayonta Whitfield (8-0, 3 KOs) soundly dominated Terrence Roy (6-13, 0 KOs). Whitfield looked sharp in working the body and scoring three knockdowns en route to a stoppage at 2:40 of round three.

Cruiserweight Donnell Wiggins (23-5-2, 14 KOs) clearly outclassed journeyman Norman Johnson (4-16-1, 1 KO), who was more intent on clinching and escaping being hit than serving as an opponent. Wiggins scored three knockdowns and Johnson was deducted a point for holding on the way to a TKO loss at 1:19 of round three.

And, in the opening fight, heavyweight Adam Richards (6-1, 5 KOs) stormed out with hard left hooks, scoring three knockdowns and a first round stoppage at 1:46 over journeyman Tyrone Muex (10-24-3, 3 KOs).

David Hines contributed to this report.