Athletes - Antonio Tarver

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	Athletes - Antonio Tarver

Antonio Deon Tarver (born November 21, 1968), nicknamed the "Magic Man, is a professional boxer from Orlando, Florida, who is the current reining world Light heavyweight champion of the world. After an impressive amateur career, which included winning a bronze medal while representing the United States at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Tarver made his professional debut at the relatively old 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, a former title holder of a minor organization's Heavyweight belt, in Chester, West Virginia on August 30 of 1998. Tarver went on knock Gannon out in the second round.

On February 29 of 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.

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.

Next, Roy Jones Jr. decided against defending his Heavyweight title and instead announced his plan to return and take back the Light-Heavyweight belts. After causing an uproar by initially choosing to hand Roy Jones Jr. the Light-Heavyweight belts back, the WBC and IBF bowed to pressure and re-declared Tarver as the champion, setting the stage for the first of three fights between Tarver and Jones.

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 of 2003 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Because many 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 of 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, "Do you have any excuses tonight, Roy?".

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.

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.

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Athletes - Antonio Tarver

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