How do you rate Antonio Tarver?

I think that he is a fighter whose currency will grow over time.

The boxing fans of the future will remember him for his memorable series with Roy Jones, and his series with Glen Johnson whose currency will rise for the same reasons.

 

Sadly for Tarver the LHW division historically is stacked. A very good fighter, but no where near the level of ATG.

Kind of ironic that he’ll always be known as the guy to beat a past prime RJJ, but all of his best wins are inherently linked to RJJ as well.

Eric Harding got punished by RJJ

Glen Johnson also only really well known after beating RJJ

Reggie Johnson at the tail end of his career took Tarver to a split decision, also smoked by RJJ, then went 1-1 with him even later in his career

Clinton Woods, knocked out by Jones in 6

Monetell Griffin, again, best known for his dq win over jones and then 1 round massacre loss.

Hell, even Danny Green to pick up Tarvers cruiserweight strap was only really known for beating on Jones way past him prime.

It feels like I’m selling him short here, but I just think it’s interesting to throw in there. Like I said, a very good fighter, but way short of an ATG

 

We should evaluate his knockout over Roy higher, nobody expected that.

 

You’re just making things up.

Harding went tit for tat with Jones until he tore his biceps and had to retire soon after.

Tarver went 1-0 against Reggie Johnson, and it shouldn’t have been a SD, not 1-1.

Woods was at his peak for Tarver, holding a belt.

Tarver went 1-1 with Johnson and was robbed in the loss, stopped Green, and went 1-0 over Griffin. Roy went 1-3 against them. Remind how this helps Roy and hurts Tarver?

 

Harding tore his bicep in the second round.

None of what I’ve said is made up either, but it does lack a bit of context. I’m not saying it hurts Tarver I just mentioned that all of Tarver’s best wins are over people Jones already beat

 

Most accomplished Light Heavyweight of the last 25 years. Where it puts him in all time standings, someone else should answer.

His rivalry with prime Glen Johnson is particulary underappreciated. Glen was solid to good for many years - but had a short perior where it all clicked for him and He was a real force. That's when Tarve fought him and probably won both fights.
Obviously Roy and Harding are very good wins as well.

Wasn't Tarver also considered the best (American) amateur boxer of his generation? I know He did not win gold at the Olympics, but if I'm not mistaken He was the one solid favorite that team U.S had coming in.

 

I’d have loved to have seen him fight Calzaghe. Hate to be cliche with Calzaghe at LHW, but I could definitely seeing that sniper of a left hand of Tarver’s dropping him early, but coming on strong later in the fight to take a decision.

 

I think We might've seen it if Calzaghe has not injured himself before the scheduled Glen Johnson fight.
Tarver was usually pretty strong down the stretch himself. I'd go with him.

 

Yes, he was the top am. He won Pan Am, World Am, and got a medal at thr Olympics.

 

Targer was a very good fighter and a guy that at his best is a handful for anyone at 175. He was a truly great counter puncher and was fantastic defensively. He suffered some crappy setbacks that really hurt his career like breaking his jaw against Harding and a bad decision loss to Johnson in a fight that he should have got the decision. Poor management really plagued his career as well. He was hall of fame caliber but simply didn't do enough to get in.

 

I don't know. I think He's on the ballot, right? I think He's at least just as accomplished as some of the recent inductees like Chico, Froch, Calderon...

 

I think Tarver did a lot to hurt his own legacy - he turned pro too late to fully capitalize on his potential, he stayed down @175 for far too long, & he gained a bunch of weight for a movie role when @the height of his career.

Much is made of the fact that RJJ was declining when Tarver got to him, but I believe Tarver was @the tail end of his own prime when he KO'd Roy as well. I think Tarver deserves more credit than he typically gets for outboxing Roy in their rubber match, when neither fighter still looked his best IMO.

 

I think he HOF worthy but he might have to wait a bit like Julian Jackson and Donald Curry did. He certainly was talented enough.

 

One of those fighters where if you take out one particular fight (Hopkins), his career can be seen in a different light.

Without the loss to Hopkins, he was effectively the last man standing from a pretty solid LHW era. Each loss avenged, two of them by brutal KO; obviously being the first man to decisively beat Jones was a huge feather in his cap.

Losing to Hopkins in the manner he did takes some of the lustre away, and creates a "yeah, he was good, but..." uncertainty when comparing him to other LHW champs. In any Tarver fantasy H2H discussion, the Hopkins loss will get thrown in there early and hard. It's the difference between being a nailed on HOF pick, and the kind of guy who sits on the ballot for a while and squeezes in on a quiet year.

Tarver had great tools and was a very dangerous counter puncher. There often seemed to be a spark missing though, which led to him getting outworked. He wasn't always the sum of his parts, but he made his mark on boxing history regardless.