Tarver didn’t turn pro until he was 28. Although he’s a few months older than Roy, he was much fresher when they fought. Roy had fought 49 times, across 4 divisions.
I don’t think you follow. Tarver aged better than Roy, but these guys were both full 175s at the same age. Roy’s absolute prime has little bearing on that.
He also had a technical style that wasn’t as dependent on athleticism and didn’t have the self doubt that comes with having your head put in orbit.
What point are you trying to make? Why did you say he was older? What exactly are you wanting to say?
I’m saying anything and everything will be done to downplay what Tarver accomplished in boxing and what his talent level was.
That's a good point. Tarver is underrated in fantasy fights probably due to his inconsistency and relatively short prime.
I suspect that there will be a bit of a Jersey Joe Walcott effect with Antonio Tarver, and Geln Johnson for that matter. People will look back at their careers, and they will gain currency!
His win over Roy was great. But people are only telling it how it is. Prime for prime, Roy would always have been the favourite. Roy beat Tarver in the first fight, despite the fact that he was absolutely exhausted due to losing muscle in only a few months. And he was past his prime then, having had 49 fights. In the rematch, Tarver landed a beautiful shot. In the 3rd fight, Roy hadn’t fought in over a year and he was coming off of 2 back to back knockout losses. Yet he gave a good account of himself. The versions of Roy from the mid to late 90’s, were better than the versions that Tarver fought. He was fresher. So all things considered, of course people are going to pick a prime version of Roy over him. Why wouldn’t they?