Antonio Tarver

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Olympic medal record
Men's Boxing
Bronze	Atlanta 1996	Light Heavyweight

Antonio Tarver
Statistics
Real name	Antonio Deon Tarver
Nickname	Magic Man
Weight	Light heavyweight
Nationality	American
Birth date	November 21, 1968
Birth place	Orlando, Florida, USA
Style	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	28
Wins	24
Wins by KO	18
Losses	4
Draws	0
No contests	0

Antonio Leon Tarver (born November 21, 1968), nicknamed the "Magic Man", is a professional boxer from Orlando, Florida, who is the former undisputed Light heavyweight champion of the world. He built an impressive amateur career, which included winning a bronze medal while representing the United States at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He captured the world title at the 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Berlin, just two months after having triumphed at the Pan American Games in Mar del Plata. In 2006, Tarver will star as Mason "The Line" Dixon, the challenger of Rocky Balboa in the sixth installment of the Rocky film series.

Contents 1 Professional Career 1.1 The Early Years 1.2 Winning The Light Heavyweight Titles 1.3 Tarver vs. Jones I & II 1.4 Rise In Popularity 1.5 Tarver vs. Johnson I & II 1.6 Rubber Match Against Jones 1.7 Rocky Balboa 1.8 Tarver vs. Hopkins 2 Amateur Career 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Professional Career

[edit] The Early Years

Tarver made his professional debut at the age of 28 on February 18, 1997, with a second round knockout victory over Joaquin Garcia at the legendary "Blue Horizon" in Philadelphia.

Tarver won his first ten fights, eight of which came by knockout, before stepping up on his level of competition. After taking most of his first ten fights in either his native Florida or at the "Blue Horizon," for his eleventh fight he met veteran Rocky Gannon in Chester, West Virginia on August 30, 1998. Tarver knocked Gannon out in the second round.

On February 29, 2000, he fought Ernest Mateen, who had previously fought and lost to James Toney, over whom he proceeded to score a first round knock out victory in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Later that year, Tarver suffered his first career loss when he was knocked down in the eleventh round by Eric Harding, en route to a unanimous decision loss on June 23 in Biloxi, Mississippi.

However, he rebounded from this defeat by racking up four straight wins, including a knockout of Harding in round five of their rematch.

[edit] Winning The Light Heavyweight Titles

On April 26, 2003, Tarver received his first world title shot, when he faced former world champion Montell Griffin for the IBF and WBC world Light-Heavyweight titles that had been vacated by Roy Jones Jr., who had gone on to beat John Ruiz for the WBA world Heavyweight title the previous month. After dropping Griffin in both of the first two rounds, Tarver was crowned world Light-Heavyweight champion after winning a unanimous decision.

[edit] Tarver vs. Jones I & II

Next, Roy Jones Jr. decided against defending his Heavyweight title and instead announced his plan to return and take back the Light-Heavyweight belts. Given little chance of winning, Tarver surprised both fan and expert alike by taking Jones the distance and losing the fight by a close majority decision on November 8, 2003 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Because some of those that saw the fight thought that Tarver had actually done enough to win the fight, a small but well-publicized controversy ensued, leading to the pair's second fight.

Because of Jones's proven ability to adjust to opponents' styles during rematches, experts did not believe Tarver would pose much of a threat in the second fight on May 15, 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nevertheless, Tarver produced the upset and recovered the world titles by knocking Jones out in the second round. In the eyes of most observers, it wasn't as shocking that Tarver had beaten Roy Jones Jr. as it was that he had knocked him out; in fifty previous fights, Roy Jones Jr. had been sent to the floor only once, and he had never lost a fight by knockout.

In addition to the surprising result, Tarver-Jones II will also be remembered as the "No Excuse Fight" as a result of Tarver's memorable comments in the middle of the ring just prior to the match. When referee Jay Nady asked if the fighters had any questions, Tarver surprised everyone (though he had told his trainer, James (Buddy) McGirt, he would do this) by replying: "I have a question." Then, looking straight at Jones, asked, "You got any 'scuses tonight, Roy? You got any 'scuses, Roy?".

[edit] Rise In Popularity

Tarver became a mainstream celebrity after his rematch win over Jones, making appearances at late-night shows, appearing on the cover of both Ring and KO Magazine, being spotted by television cameras as a spectator at various boxing fights, and co-hosting ESPN's "Friday Night Fights" for one telecast.

[edit] Tarver vs. Johnson I & II

Later in 2004, the WBC decided to strip Tarver of the world title after he decided against fighting their mandatory challenger, instead choosing to fight IBF world champion Glencoffe Johnson December 18 in Temecula, California. Interestingly, Johnson himself had been stripped of his IBF world championship before the bout with Tarver for the same reason. Both fighters were celebrated for their decision to fight each other rather than bow to the pressure from what has become known as "The Alphabet Soup" sanctioning bodies (WBC, WBA and IBF). Instead, Tarver and Johnson, who most believed to be the top two fighters in the Light-Heavyweight division, fought each other. Ring Magazine announced that the winner would be declared its recognized champion.

Tarver, considered a favorite to win the fight, suffered an upset loss to Johnson by way of a split decision in a fight that he did not appear to be in top shape for.

However, he avenged the loss six months later with a unanimous decision over Johnson at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. After out-boxing and out-working the aggressive Johnson, Tarver won the bout handily and regained the Light Heavyweight Championship.

[edit] Rubber Match Against Jones

In their third fight, Tarver won a unanimous decision over Roy Jones Jr. on October 1, 2005 in Tampa, Florida, almost knocking Jones out in the 11th round, but also finding himself in trouble at times during the fight.

[edit] Rocky Balboa

On October 28, 2005, he was confirmed for the role of fictional boxer Mason 'The Line' Dixon in the upcoming film, Rocky Balboa (formerly called Rocky VI).

[edit] Tarver vs. Hopkins

On June 10th, 2006, Tarver faced former Undisputed Middleweight Champion Bernard Hopkins for Tarver's Light-Heavyweight title at The Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. Hopkins, a 3-to-1 underdog, dominated the fight winning via unanimous decision. The fight was scored 118-109 by all three judges. Tarver was knocked down in the 5th round. As a result of a clause in the fight contract, Tarver was forced to pay $250,000 to a charity of Hopkins' choice since he did not knock Hopkins out before the fifth round. Hopkins announced his retirement immediately following the fight. Tarver's record now stands at 24 wins and 4 losses, with 18 wins coming by way of knockout.

Since the Hopkins fight, Tarver has since decided to take the remainder of the year off. He will, however, feature in the next Rocky movie, Rocky Balboa, due for release at Christmas.

Preceded by: Roy Jones, Jr. Vacated	WBC Light Heavyweight Champion 26 April 2003–8 November 2003	Succeeded by: Roy Jones, Jr.
Preceded by: Roy Jones, Jr. Vacated	IBF Light Heavyweight Champion 26 April 2003–8 November 2003 Stripped	Succeeded by: Glencoffe Johnson
Preceded by: Roy Jones, Jr.	Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight Champion 15 May 2004–18 December 2004	Succeeded by: Glencoffe Johnson
Preceded by: Roy Jones, Jr.	WBC Light Heavyweight Champion 15 May 2004–December 2004 Stripped	Succeeded by: Tomasz Adamek
Preceded by: Roy Jones, Jr.	WBA Light Heavyweight Champion 15 May 2004–December 2004 Stripped	Succeeded by: Fabrice Tiozzo
Preceded by: Glencoffe Johnson	Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight Champion 18 June 2005–10 June 2006	Succeeded by: Bernard Hopkins

[edit] Amateur Career

• 1993 and 1995 United States amateur Light Heavyweight champion.
• 1994 National Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight champion
• Won the Light Heavyweight bronze medal for the United States at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

[edit] See also

• List of male boxers
• List of WBC world champions

[edit] External links

• Antonio Tarver's career boxing record