Antonio Tarver has accomplished a lot in the sport of boxing.
In 1995, he became the first and only boxer to date to win gold medals at the Pan Am Games, the National Championships & the World Championships in the same year. He also went on to score Olympic bronze in Atlanta in 1996.
If you haven’t noticed from his demeanor in and out of the ring, Tarver loves to finish first, and he loves to do something one has never done before, like being the first man to knockout Roy Jones Jr. in 2004.
In fact, that was the first time Jones had been knocked down since 1998, when he got caught by a clean straight left hand from Lou Del Valle. However, it was merely a flash knockdown, and Jones dominated the fight.
Now 46 years of age, Tarver is trying to become the oldest heavyweight champion in boxing history, breaking a record set by ‘Big George’ Foreman in November 1994 when he knocked out Michael Moorer to claim the WBA & IBF heavyweight belts at the age of 45.
First, Tarver is going to have to get past former cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham on August 14th when they fight on Premier Boxing Champions live on Spike.
With a victory over a solid contender, Tarver hopes to eventually get a title shot against the likes of WBC champion Deontay Wilder and Wladimir Klitschko, who holds all the other belts, including the WBA Super title.
Klitschko fights the undefeated Tyson Fury on October 24th in Germany. The 6’9 Manchester fighter has an 85’ reach, the same reach as another fighter from the UK, Hall of Famer Lennox Lewis.
However, Tarver doesn’t view Fury as the next Lennox Lewis. He, like many in the boxing world, is not giving a Fury a chance of dethroning Klitschko, speaking with Fight Hype.
“Come on, are you kidding me?” Tarver said. “I give him no chance in hell of beating Klitschko. That don’t say much because Klitschko isn’t the Klitschko of old. He’s a lot older than me in boxing years, a lot older.
I am coming after those titles, period.”
He has a point. Fury has proven to be susceptible for big right hands over the course of his career. He was knocked down by Steve Cunningham in April 2013 due to a big overhand right. He went on to knockout Cunningham in the seventh round of that fight. Also, he was put down on the floor by Neven Pajkic in 2011, and he only has five knockouts in his career.
To his credit, Fury’s boxing skills are very, very underrated. He has a good jab, a good right hand, and he has good head movement when he uses it.
However, how is he supposed to beat a man who’s known for his ability to make other fighters fight his own fight? Someone is going to have to come forward in this one and I think Fury is going to be forced to fight out of his comfort zone.
Also, Fury is going to have problems with endurance in a grueling 12-round match if he comes in out of shape, which has been a problem throughout his career.
According to James Allen of Tha Boxing Voice, Fury has dropped 35 lbs. as of July 7th. But, 35 pounds from what? Fury has weighed-in as low as 245 ¾ and as high as 274. If he drains himself for the fight, which is entirely possible, he’s just going to be a very tall punching bag on October 24th.
Tarver is right, Fury has no chance in hell of beating Klitschko on October 24th. However, I’d love to see Tarver fight against any of the top fighters because I’m telling you, he’s going to give them one heck of a challenge.
