“I credit USA Boxing for giving me structure for the first time in my life,” Tarver ವಿವರಿಸಿದರು. “Everything was scheduled; curfew, eating, ತರಬೇತಿ, sleep….ಎಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ! I then understood that I had to be accountable for everything I did. I had talent, but I wasn’t structured, and that was bigger than me. I had to adjust to authority. My determination took off, giving me support I never had before. I went on to make speaking engagements and get sponsors. I broke barriers. I’ve been the best at every level that I fought at in the world.”
Tarver was a highly decorated amateur who had an amazing 158-12 ದಾಖಲೆ. He is the only boxer to capture gold medals at World Amateur Championships, U. ಸ. National Championships and Pan-American Games in the same year (1995). The Orlando, Florida-born southpaw won a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, losing in the quarterfinals to future world champion Vassiliy Jirov, who Tarver had defeated in the semifinals of the 1995 World Amateur Championships. Tarver also won top honors at the 1994 National Golden Gloves Tournament and 1995 World Championships Challenge.
“I went on a winning roll in 1995 and went into the Olympics in rare form,” Tarver ಹೇಳಿದರು. “And that’s why I was favored to win a gold medal. I was hitting him (Jirov), the same guy I’d beaten in the World Championships, but no points were registering for me. I had a good second round, but I was down three points, so I threw my game plan away in the third round. I felt I had to do more and got away from my style: counter punching, not getting hit, and being patient. I thought I had won and so did a lot of people. I made up for that, ಆದರೂ, with a gold-medal professional career.
“I had been faced with a decision about going pro after I was beaten in the ’92 Olympic Trials. I decided to stay in the amateurs, despite not having any guarantees about making the 1996 U. ಸ. ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ ತಂಡ. I sacrificed four years of my pro career, which is why I turned pro at a relatively late age (27). I was determined when I found out the 1996 Olympics were in Atlanta. I think I made the right decision and I have no regrets.
“I had always dreamed of going to the Olympics. I saw Roy Jones, ಜೂನಿಯರ್ – we first fought each other at 13 – get robbed of gold. I was watching that on television, jumped up, and knew where I was heading: The Olympics! We both suffered horrible decisions in the Olympics and I knew then that our careers would be parallel.
Tarver made his pro debut February 18, 1997 ಫಿಲಡೆಲ್ಫಿಯಾದಲ್ಲಿ, ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸುವ Joaquin Garcia (4-0) ಎರಡನೇ ಸುತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ.
“I was an Olympic bronze medal winner but when I first turned pro,” Tarver added, “I didn’t have a promoter or manager. Nobody was willing to take a chance on me until I was 4-0, when I signed by first contract with Russell Peltz. I felt nobody could beat me.”
Nobody was able to beat Tarver, at least until his 17ನೇ pro fight, ಯಾವಾಗ ಎರಿಕ್ ಹಾರ್ಡಿಂಗ್defeated Tarver by way of a 12-round unanimous decision.
ಎರಡು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ನಂತರ, Tarver embarked on a 12-fight murderer’s row stretch during the next seven years, arguably establishing him as the No. 1 ವಿಶ್ವದ ಪೌಂಡ್ ಫಾರ್ ಪೌಂಡ್ ಫೈಟರ್. It all started with a successful rematch with Harding (21-1-1) in Indianapolis, when Tarver dropped Harding in the fourth round, plus twice more in the fifth, on his way to a fifth-round technical knockout to avenge his lone pro loss to that date.
Next up for Tarver was a showdown with 44-3 Montell ಗ್ರಿಫಿನ್ for the WBC and IBF 175-pound division titles, which were vacated by ರಾಯ್ ಜೋನ್ಸ್ ಜೂನಿಯರ್., ಏಪ್ರಿಲ್ 26, 2003 Mashantucket ರಲ್ಲಿ Foxwoods ರೆಸಾರ್ಟ್ ಕ್ಯಾಸಿನೊದಲ್ಲಿದೆ, ಕನೆಕ್ಟಿಕಟ್. In his first world title shot as a pro, Tarver pitched a complete shutout, decking Griffin in the first and last rounds to shut out his opponent by scores of 120-103 ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮೂರು ನ್ಯಾಯಾಧೀಶರುಗಳ.
ಏಳು ತಿಂಗಳ ನಂತರ, ಆದರೆ, Tarver lost a controversial 12-round majority decision and his WBC crown (he was stripped of his IBF belt) to WBA Super and IBO champion Jones in Las Vegas. The following May at the venue, Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, ಆದರೂ, Tarver became the first to knockout Jones, putting him to sleep in the second round.
Tarver then became a mainstream celebrity, appearing on late-night shows and covers ofರಿಂಗ್ magazine and KO Magazine, and co-hosting an ESPN ಶುಕ್ರವಾರ ನೈಟ್ ಫೈಟ್ಸ್ ಪ್ರಸಾರದ.
“I was robbed in my first fight with Roy,” Tarver insisted. “They called my knockout of Roy the greatest upset in light heavyweight history. Why didn’t they see me coming? I had beaten everybody ranked ahead of me. Roy was the pound-4-pound king, but he knew. I may not be the fastest, the quickest, or the strongest, but I doubt that there’s ever been a pro fighter to enter the ring with a higher IQ than me. Even at my age, I still feel that way today.”
The WBC stripped Tarver of his title in 2004 for fighting IBF champion ಗ್ಲೆನ್ ಜಾನ್ಸನ್ (41-9-2) instead of the WBC mandatory challenger. ಜಾನ್ಸನ್, ವ್ಯಂಗ್ಯವಾಗಿ, was stripped of his IBF title for the same reason right before his fight in Los Angeles with Tarver. Tarver and Johnson fought for ರಿಂಗ್ and IBO titles and Johnson won a 12-round split decision.
In their rematch six months later ಮೆಂಫಿಸ್, Tarver won a unanimous 12-round decision over Johnson to capture the IBO strap. Tarver completed his trilogy with Jones, retaining his IBO title with a unanimous 12-round decision (117-111, 116-112, 116-112).
Tarver lost a 12-round decision June 10, 2006 in Atlantic City to ಬರ್ನಾರ್ಡ್ ಹಾಪ್ಕಿನ್ಸ್ for the IBO championship, which was soon vacated and recaptured by Tarver with a 12-round majority decision over Elvir Muriqi (34-3).
Tarver traveled to Australia in 2011 to challenge IBO cruiserweight champion and local hero ಡ್ಯಾನಿ ಗ್ರೀನ್, who retired after nine rounds, as Tarver added another title belt to his display case.
ಡಿಸೆಂಬರ್ 2013 in Temecula, ಕ್ಯಾಲಿಫೋರ್ನಿಯಾ, Tarver knocked out Jonathon Banks (29-2-1) in the seventh round, and Tarver’s last fight was a 12-round split decision draw with former world champion ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಕನ್ನಿಂಗ್ಹ್ಯಾಮ್ (28-7) ನೆವಾರ್ಕ್, ನ್ಯೂಜೆರ್ಸಿ.
ರಲ್ಲಿ 2006, Tarver starred as Mason “The Line” Dixon, the heavyweight champion in the film,ರಾಕಿ ಬಾಲ್ಬೊವ.
Tarver, as he marches towards his planned history-making performance by becoming the oldest heavyweight world champion of all-time, also has served as a color commentator in boxing for Spike TV and Showtime.
ಇಂದು, ವಯಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ 49, Tarver is still technically active, and he also trains his son and undefeated middleweight prospect, ಆಂಟೋನಿಯೊ Tarver, ಜೂನಿಯರ್. (5-0 (4 ಕಾಸ್), where they live in Tampa, ಫ್ಲೋರಿಡಾ.
“I was older than the rest of the boxers on the U.S. Olympic Team and the U.S. National Team,” Tarver ಟ. “What a team! Guys like ಡಿಯಾಗೊ ಕೊರಾಲ್ಸ್ ಮತ್ತು Zab ಯೆಹೂದದ didn’t make that Olympic Team. I gave ಫ್ಲಾಯ್ಡ್ ಮೇವೆದರ್, ಜೂನಿಯರ್. his first moniker, ‘Pretty Boy Floyd’, until he changed it years later to ‘Money’. We had a bond on that Olympic team with Floyd, ಫರ್ನಾಂಡೊ ವರ್ಗಾಸ್, David Reid, Zarim Raheem and the others.”
Although at the age of 49 he is still an active fighter, Tarver occassionally does some color commentating and he trains pro and amateur boxers at a gym in Tampa, ಫ್ಲೋರಿಡಾ. “I’m not retired as a fighter,” Tarver commented. “I started a program, ‘Train with The Champ’, and it includes room rent and training. I like to say it’s an AirB&B for boxing. I train my son (5-0 ಮಿಡಲ್ ಆಂಟೋನಿಯೊ Tarver, ಜೂನಿಯರ್. ಅಲ್ಲಿ. I learned a lot from my early days, training in Orlando with my coach, Lou Harris, and I reunited with ಜಿಮ್ಮಿ ವಿಲಿಯಮ್ಸ್, ಯಾರು 90 ಈಗ, training my son together in Tampa.
Tarver also is an advocate of the relatively new “ಯುಎಸ್ಎ ಬಾಕ್ಸಿಂಗ್ ಹಳೆಯ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳ ಸಂಘ,” which was created to champion a lifelong, mutually beneficial relations between USA Boxing and its alumni, –ಬಾಕ್ಸರ್ಗಳು, ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳು, ತರಬೇತುದಾರರು ಮತ್ತು ಬಾಕ್ಸಿಂಗ್ ಅಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳು — the Alumni Association connects generations of champions, ಯುಎಸ್ಎ ಬಾಕ್ಸಿಂಗ್ ಭವಿಷ್ಯದ ಬಾಕ್ಸಿಂಗ್ ಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್ಗಳಿಗೆ ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿದಾಯಕ ಮತ್ತು ಹಿಂದಿರುಗಿಸುತ್ತದೆ, ಮತ್ತು ರಿಂಗ್ ಹೊರಗೆ.
“I’m going online to join,” Tarver ಹೇಳಿದರು. “I’m looking forward to attending an Alumni Association meeting, ಜೂನ್ 24-30 during the Junior Olympics in Charleston, ವೆಸ್ಟ್ ವರ್ಜೀನಿಯಾ.
Everything that goes around, ಸುಮಾರು ಬರುತ್ತದೆ, in USA Boxing. Just ask future Hall of Fame candidate Antonio Tarver.
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