Opinion respected, but keep in mind that Tarver did not even want to spar with Adamek when both were under trainer Buddy McGirt (which was for one fight, then Adamek fired Buddy's useless ass).
I don't think he'll beat them, but Tarver's best chances might be against Adamek and Chagaev, the softest hitters of the bunch. I think they both decision Tarver, but he might last the distance with them. Being a southpaw and having experience would help Tarver survive.
In addition to his top flight experience at pro, Tarver had a phenomenal amatuer career. I wouldn't say Tarver had the fastest hands I've ever seen - but he did have fast hands when he put his punches together. He was able to catch Roy Jones with one punch after all. Since he is moving up from light heavyweight - Tarver will be the faster fighter against the bigger heavyweights that are used to moving at heavyweight speed. Light Heavyweights have always been touted as the division that moves like middleweights but punches like heavyweights. If Tarver boxes - he could outbox most of the smaller fighters on that list and probably Valuev. However he would be outsized and outgunned against the Klitschko's.
I think Tarver could go the distance with Chambers, and if he stayed busy enough he could eke out a decision. He could possibly get on his bicycle and ride to a victory over Arreolla, other than those two he loses to every fighter on that list.
Damn it. You can view the results without voting. In the lower right corner there's a little link that says "View Poll Results". :!: I wonder if all ten people who voted for Vitali were just trying to peek. :rofl
Well, some things have changed in the last couple of months. Arreola and Adamek both had un-flattering performances (against Manuel Quezada and Michael Grant, respectively). Valuev is out of the picture, maybe permanently, with an injury. Dimitrenko looked decent in his return to the ring: [yt]MdIC4NE4VCc[/yt] None of the rest of the Ring Top Ten have fought, although the champions (Haye and both Klitschkos) have fights lined up for the fall. We'll obviously know a lot more about how he fits in after he meets Nagy Aguilera in October, but at this juncture how does Tarver square with our current perspective of the division? :think
Tarver just gave an impromptu interview with Steve Farhood on ShoBox. He says he walks around at 217 or so and that he's very serious about this run at heavyweight, feels he still has it, and is very focused on a world title. He says "If I can't get it done against Nagy Aguilera, then I can't get it done period". :nod In a classy moment he also gave a shout out to journeyman Maurice Harris (who recently beat Aguilera) - giving him high praise as one of the more skilled pure boxers in the division.
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