delete

I don't think he struggled, I had them 8-4 and 9-3 at the time, haven't seen them recently.

 

How many American ams were even better than Tarver? It's a shame he didn't win gold at the Olympics, but he was the man.

 

me too. The first Johnson decision was a borderline robbery.

 

he was as old but much fresher imo. the weight loss had a huge impact on his reflexes and speed, both of which left almost entirely after Rocky.

did you watch the fight against woods?

 

fyi only norris and patterson have made the cut for me thus far :think

 

I am not sure if I picked Norris, but I picked Genaro Hernandez as a great because of his style and heart. His win over Azumah was incredible. To comeback and outbox him.

 

not as good a victory as duran's over leonard :good

 

Exactly the same for me as well, although Norton comes real close.

 

What Tarver did to Roy exceeds what Norton did to Ali, and Roy>Ali at least for the first two fights. Tarver was also a legitimate light heavy champ several times and all time great amateur. Norton had no notable amateur career. Tarver is easily more accomplished than Norton.

 

Ray's victory over Duran in the rematch is far the best victory of the 3 fights.

 

No, Duran's win is the best. The second victory is tarnished because Duran was doing coke and getting fat when he should've been in the gym. It's his fault and it damaged his legacy pretty badly.

 

Ah so you rate a victory over Duran as being better than a victory over Leonard.

I always thought you ranked Leonard higher, wonder what changed your mind.

Don't get me wrong I'm glad you have shown some flexibility in the issue. At one time you'd have thought it better to defeat Leonard than Duran but I guess all those debates have finally won you over.

In fact I'm so shocked and pleased by you're changing of tune that I will not return to this thread ever again.

have a good evening sir.

 

Bringing tarver's amatuer achievements into it is weak.What's next, Pat Cowdell's amatuer credentials launching him into the featherweight top 20? Wilfredo Gomez' amatuer wins being the key that pushes him into an all-time top ten?

tarver was a solid pro with a short prime who achieved a landmark win over Roy Jones.For me that's it.

He wasn't even good enough as an overall fighter to really beat up the likes of a washed up fat Reggie Johnson and ancient Glen Johnson.

I did rate him as a puncher though.Harding, Chris Johnson, Jones...he had some great moments.That's what makes me consider him a good solid fighter on his day, certainly not his skills.

 

PowerPuncher,

I think he was a very good light heavy in his day, but I personally wouldn't call him a great fighter. His claim to fame was beating Roy who was past his best. The biggest mistake Roy made in his career, was making Tarver fight Harding in that eliminator. I believe he did it to get under Tarver's skin, and boy did it backfire. If Tarver had've beaten Harding the 1st time, Roy would have fought Tarver a lot earlier, when he was fresher and hadn't been up to heavy and back. I think Roy would have beaten him, and then he wouldn't have been baited to come back from 200 pounds in a rush in 2003.

Tarver has got some very good wins on his resume, although Reggie Johnson was past his best, and he fought Griffin 6 years after Roy had destroyed him. His rematch with Harding impressed me a lot though.

He was the same age as Roy, but you have to note that he didn't turn pro til he was 28-29. He did have a fair few amateur fights, but Roy turned pro in 1989 and had many more miles on the clock. He'd only had 20 odd fights when he fought Roy, and Roy had fought nearly 50 times.

People will always remember his famous saying "You got any excuses tonight Roy?" He thought thatRoy had exaggerated his weight loss problems, and he found out against Hop exactly what Roy had been talking about. He also claimed he'd been poisoned against Hop.

I think he'd cause plenty of problems if he was at 175 today, if he was motivated and focused.