Jones-Tarver 1 - Jones proves his chin in a war

Tarver would have always troubled Jones in my opinion. He was tall and lanky and laid back. Jones had trouble leading because of his reach. Tarver appears much taller in real life. I was quite suprised when I met him.
I think a prime Jones always beats him, but not by blowout, he would always have a little difficulty.

 

It was a great fight and imo an underrated scrap. Jones had a good scrap with Montell in the 1st fight too but people only remember the DQ. I thought Jones won by like two points. 115-113 something like that.

 

Tarver is a bit overated. He is one of the laziest fighters and really I think his best showing was against a shot Jones. He could be outworked rather easily by limited fighters. He seemed to really get up for Jones, who unbelieveably is fighting again soon. :-(

 

I thought Jones' bodypunching pulled it off for him. TBH, this is one of my fav Jones fights because he showed adversity and didn't blow Tarver away like many opponents he did in his prime. Lacy fight isn't as good but it is up there for my fav RJ fights because it was imo his last hurrah and he showed he still has his handspeed he was famous for. He's not as fast clearly but still fast compared to everyone else similar to a past prime Ray Robinson when he was fighting at MW just SRR could still be competitive against top guys like Basilio & Fullmer and even obliterate Olson.

 

He should have been able to beat Johnson with his eyes closed. More proof of his laziness.

 

Jones problem was only throwing one punch at a time. When he put combinations together and fought aggressive he did well. He was becoming too cautious at this point in his career.

 

this is fight that gets overlooked when people say jones never had to show his heart. tarver's style gave jones problems but the weight loss is the main reason jones looked like he did in this fight.

 

Wtf @ Tarver simultaneously headbutting and low blowing Jones.

 

No, Jones would punish him. We are talking about the peak focused machine. Taver wouldn't have an answer just like he didn't everytime Roy decided to get off the ropes in their fights.

 

This probably one of Roy Jones' best performance, even though I give him lots of credit for the Ruiz fight.

I'm put off by the booing in the end. The fact is, Roy Jones showed signs that he was no longer the same fighter and that he had slowed down to the point that he would give away a round by letting Tarver wail at him on the ropes just so he can catch some rest. Roy showed his intangibles, he showed his chin, his skill and his ability to control a fight that from the outset was slipping away from him.

I've watched this fight close to a dozen times and I still can't find a way to give the fight to Tarver.

This may very well have been the last time Roy Jones beat an elite fighter.

 

Jones should have been 0-3 against Tarver. I had Tarver winning this. Glad we got a rematch and Tarver got revenge. Ended the myth of Jones...