Tarver Talks the Talk
He’s fought four times since 2007. He’s 42 years old. And on July 20 at the Sydney (Australia) Entertainment Centre, he’s challenging Danny Green for his IBO cruiserweight title.
His name is Antonio Tarver and owes no one any explanation. But explain Tarver does, because explaining is some of what he does best.
‘‘I am taking this fight seriously,” the former light heavyweight champion told The Sun Herald. “This is one of the biggest fights of my career. I’m at the other side now where people are doubting me and saying I shouldn’t be fighting any more…show me a fighter who has dominated me? Outside of a bad loss to Bernard Hopkins it hasn’t happened! I don’t understand how they rank me but they’ve underestimated me all my career. That’s why I fight with a bittersweet taste in my mouth…”
Although he was the first person to KO Roy Jones Jr., Tarver has always been a defensive fighter.
‘‘Normally when young fighters come through they get knocked out and hurt along the way.,” Tarver said. “They take an enormous amount of punishment in their youth and have nothing left as they grow older, but that’s not the case with me.
‘‘I’ve never had a cut. I’ve never had a broken nose and the only reason I suffered an accidental broken jaw against Eric Harding was because I had a faulty mouthpiece in that fight. I’ve never been hurt or almost out on my feet. I’m squeaky clean. The hardest thing Danny Green is going to deal with is when he throws a punch he’s taking a serious risk of being hit. He’s fighting a masterful boxer, a guy who has been at the top of the trade, and a fighter who knows all the tricks.’‘
(The full article on Antonio Tarver vs. Danny Green can be read here)
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