The boxing world is abuzz yesterday as Antonio Tarver, the former light-heavyweight champion of the world and present commentator on Showtime, announced that he will be returning to the ring as a heavyweight contender. The charismatic Tarver said that he would like to challenge all of the current greats of the sport, and that with a little muscle and exercise, he will be able to give them a run for their money.
"The champ is going heavyweight," Tarver claimed. “I feel if I’m going to stay in the game of boxing and give it my all, I've gotta set big goals for myself. So the Klitschkos, David Haye, be on the lookout because I'm coming.”
Fans are undecided as to how to take the news, given Tarver’s performance in his last two matches, where he suffered back to back defeats against rising star Chad Dawson. Since then he has remained relatively quiet about the possibility of a comeback, save for yesterday.
Tarver stated: ”I definitely will be back in the ring [soon]. I feel like I'm a still a young fighter in regards to my health and strength. I've never been in any really brutal wars and taken a lot of shots to the head or allowed myself to be seriously hurt. I believe at 41 I still bring a long list of intangibles to the fight game and I still have a lot of fight in me. Understand I reached my prime later than a lot other fighters of my generation, and that [fact] plus my strength and skill has enabled me to fight at a high level for a longer period of time."
Tarver, with a record of 27-6 (19), may have some prospective fights lined up, but as is often the case with newly retired fighters, seems to crave more time in the ring not out of economic necessity but rather to claim a state in history.
Analysts are suspect about Tarver’s chin at the heavyweight level, whether or not his speed and reflexes are still intact, and whether or not he’ll be able to contend with top heavyweights (he has never fought over 179 pounds).
Tarver’s decision to return to the ring has been compared to those of James Toney or Roy Jones Jr., both of whom had arguably successful runs in the heavyweight division after more pinnacled runs in lighter divisions. But their respective success here is relative, and contentious: it is true that Roy Jones beat John Ruiz for the heavyweight championship back in 2003, but he ended up passively letting go of it and was sooner after knocked out in 2004 by none other than Tarver himself.
James Toney likewise won the World Heavyweight Title in 2005, technically, but soon after the match was ruled a no-contest and Toney was stripped of the title after testing positive for steroids.
In light of all this Tarver is hoping to permanently reassert himself, possibly affected by the fact that fans have often doubted the authenticity of several of his key matches. Even after beating Roy Jones Jr., for instance, many called his knockout the result of a lucky punch.
The possibility of a Tarver – Toney fight is something fans of both camps would like to see, both fighters looking for more credibility.
In recent years Tarver has asserted himself as a viable and ultimately marketable television personality, demonstrating that he has more to offer than just boxing ability. Likewise, the move back into the ring appears even more curious, since it doesn’t, on the face of it, appear to recall the rationality of a desperate fighter.
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