If emails were presents I got the equivalent of a dozen lumps of coal from fight fans last week in response to my end of the year Pound-For-Pound Top 20 rankings. Ranking Antonio Tarver over Glen Johnson and Marco Antonio Barrera over Manny Pacquiao drove some fans crazy.
Damn, you kids take this pound-for-pound stuff seriously. Hey, relax folks. It’s just a “Pound-for-Pound List”; a mythical ranking system. It’s not real. It’s my opinion (which, granted, is generally better than yours), but that’s all it is. Read on for my rationale and for angry fans accusations of my being everything from biased to insane.
WTF!!!!??????
I don’t understand how in the world you have Antonio Tarver in the top ten and Glen Johnson NOT in the top ten? Johnson, this year beat Clinton Woods in Wood’s hometown, then Knocked out Roy Jones, and then BEAT Antonio Tarver. I dont’ get it.
And, then, I don’t get how you have Barrera over Pac Man. Sure, Barrera had the fight of the year, in my book, and an outstanding performance against Morales, but Pac Man not only beat Barrera, he DESTROYED him. And look at Barrera’s work before that, beating a used up Pauli Ayala while Pac Man was beating up Juan Manuel Marquez, in the second fight of the year.
You seem to have a real Hard-on (and i don’t mean this as an insult, i LOVE your writing) for Barrera and Miguel Cotto. Cotto has NOT beaten ANYONE worthy of calling himself a contender now, instead of a prospect. In my book, he’s still a prospect. Look what De La Hoya was doing at that time of the record that Cotto has now. Look how Vargas started out facing the best. Cotto still has to prove himself, and i don’t wanna hear about how “Dangerous” Randall Baily is. Chop Chop beat him and so did Ishe Smith. He has ONE punch, that guy. And now, the next fight for Cotto will be against another used up guy, CHOP CHOP. Until he faces a legitament contender, Cotto is still a prospect to me, no matter how GOOD he looks against these stiffs.
I hope you had a great Holiday, with your family and your child, and i wish you a happy new year. – BOB
Happy Holidays, Bob. I’m enjoying this time of year (and that includes the time I’ve taken out to answer these emails).
Glen Johnson has had a great year. He’s my choice for Fighter of the Year. He’s also proved that he’s the best light heavyweight in the world right now. However, one great year doesn’t put him ahead of Antonio Tarver, Juan Manuel Marquez and Diego Corrales on my Pound-for-Pound list.
My pound-for-pound Top 20 list is not a divisional ranking that only factors in what a fighter has done in the current year. It takes into consideration a given fighter’s accomplishments over many years. The top three fighters on my list – Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather and Kostya Tszyu – are there because of their continued excellence over many years.
Tarver is ahead of Johnson because he was the first fighter to give Roy Jones hell for 12 rounds (last November). He was the first fighter to knock RJ cold (this past May). True, Tarver lost to Johnson this month, but it was a very close decision that many observers believe he won. In my opinion, what Tarver accomplished in the ring from ’01 to ’04 is a little bit better – in a pound-for-pound sense – than what Johnson accomplished in the ring from ’01 to ’04. In 2001, Johnson KO’d previously undefeated Thomas Ulrich in his light heavyweight debut. Not bad, but Tarver out-did him in ’01 by knocking out both previously undefeated Lincon Carter and ranked-contender Chris Johnson (brutally). In 2002, Johnson dropped a decision to Derrick Harmon (and this wasn’t one of those robberies you’ve read about). In ’02, Tarver beat former two-division title holder Reggie Johnson and KTFO’d Eric Harding. In 2003, Johnson put himself in position for this great year by out-working four good fighters Julio Gonzalez (jobbed on the decision), Daniel Judah (bogus draw), Harding and Clinton Woods (another bogus draw in a bout for the vacant IBF title). It was a good year for Johnson, but Tarver also had a good year by shutting-out former champ Montell Griffin (something no other fighter has done) and giving Jones the toughest fight of his career. In each year, including this one, I give Tarver the edge in terms of his ring accomplishments.
As for Barrera being ranked ahead of Pacquiao, you have to understand that I had MAB as high as no. 2 on my list before he was stopped by PacMan last November. Barrera earned that high ranking with one impressive performance after the other over the span of a few years. Before his loss to PacMan, Barrera was near perfect in his ring performances from ’01 to mid-’03. Manny Pacquiao was good, but far from “near perfect” in ’01, when he struggled with Agapito Sanchez, or at the start of ’03, when he was dropped by a Russian journeymen in the Philippines.
Barrera is back inside my Top 5 because of his world-class history, which dates back to 1995, but also because he just beat a guy who I had ranked at no. 3, pound for pound (Erik Morales). I didn’t have Juan Manuel Marquez ranked in the Top 10 before Pacquiao fought him.
As for Cotto, I don’t have the Boricua anywhere near my P4P Top 20, and I don’t recall lauding him to be the Puerto Rican Sugar Ray Robinson or even the next Felix Trinidad. I just think the kid can fight and I wouldn’t count him out against any of the top 140 pounders in the world. We’ll see if I’m right or wrong about Cotto in ’05. He’s starting the year off with Chop Chop, but I’m pretty sure that he will end the year fighting the best possible junior welterweights out there. Why are you comparing Cotto to De La Hoya? Cotto didn’t get out of the first round of the 2000 Olympics, while Oscar was the ’91 Goodwill Games and the ’92 Olympic champ. De La Hoya was hands down the best 132-pound amateur fighter in the world before he turned pro. The dude only lost five times in something like 260 amateur fights. Add to that the fact that he was a 5-foot-10 lightweight who could make 130 pounds. Of course, De La Hoya was going to be moved faster than most prospects, even Blue-Chippers. Top Rank would be foolish to try and move Cotto as fast as they did De La Hoya. To do so would risk Cotto getting burned out before he’s had 25 fights like Vargas. What’s the point of doing that?
BARRERA OVER PACMAN? NOOOOOOOO!!!!
Dear Mr. Fischer, How come Marco Antonio Barerra is no. 4 on your list and Manny Pacquiao is at no. 6? Don’t you think that MAB should be able to beat the Pacman first in a rematch, if it happens soon, to deserve ranking ahead of the Pacman?
And what is Tarver doing in the top 10 list? He was an overrated fighter as evidenced by his fight with Glen Johnson. Pls. explain your criteria and basis in coming up with a P4P top 10 list. Rgds – Ermin Marzan, Antipolo City, Philippines
I don’t think Tarver is overrated because I don’t think that Glen Johnson is an average fighter. I think Johnson is an excellent prize fighter. MaxBoxing has been giving Johnson his props at light heavyweight ever since he fought Julio Gonzalez.
The criteria for my pound-for-pound rankings are pretty simple. I look at what a fighter has accomplished over the course of his career, with an emphasis on the past four or five years (who he’s fought, what world titles he’s won, how many title defenses he’s made, how active he’s been and whether or not he challenges himself every year). I’m more impressed with fighters who string together many years of excellence than fighters who are awesome for one year, but mediocre the next. Quality of opposition is more important to me than a string of wins against mid-level fighters. I will rank a fighter who has lost a few fights to pound-for-pound level fighters over an undefeated fighter who has only fought second-tier type opponents.
Also, beating a fighter ranked in my Top 20 will not automatically garner you his ranking. In other words, just because ‘Fighter A’ beats ‘Fighter B’ who is ranked in the Top 10, it doesn’t mean that A will take B’s place in the rankings. Fighter B may have done a lot more than Fighter A to earn that high ranking. Sure, Fighter B will drop in the rankings after suffering a loss to Fighter A, but one loss will not erase all of his prior accomplishments (especially if Fighter A is a very good boxer – remember, I reward fighters for facing quality opposition and for challenging themselves, whether they win or lose).
Fighter A may have proved that he belongs on the list with his win over Fighter B, but Fighter A may still have to pay his dues to climb as high as Fighter B was on the list. (A lot of fans – and some fellow press – have a problem with this rationale, but they can kiss my ass if they don’t like it. I’M the editor-in-chief of this damn website. Just like Hopkins, Mayweather and Tszyu, I “paid the cost to be the boss”. Jealous-ass message board haters can go start their own websites and compile their own silly ass pound-for-pound lists if they think their opinions are better than mine.)
Your beloved PacMan is in my Top 10 because of his stoppage of Barrera and his draw with JM Marquez, along with his winning world titles at 112 and 122 pounds. When you look at Pacquiao’s list of accomplishments, you can’t deny that he’s one of the best fighters in the world – few have better credentials. But Barrera, even though he lost to Pacquiao, is one of those few fighters with better credentials than the Filipino bomber. Like PacMan, Barrera is also a three-division champ, and he has beaten more elite fighters and had longer reigns as champion. Aside from a controversial split-decision loss to Erik Morales in February of ’00 and his TKO loss to PacMan in November of ’03, Barrera’s been almost perfect in the ring for the last five years.
DEAR MR. BIASED
Let me tell you why I think you are biased.
A few years ago, right after Pacquiao beat Barrera like he stole something, you made a P4P list were you listed Barrera over Pacman. I never understood that, I even E-mailed you about it but you never replied.
Now after Barrera’s big win over Morales, you have him ranked higher than Pacquiao again, even though that was the only significant thing Barrera did since his lost to Pac.
Pac may have had a difficult fight with Marquez, but that only proved that Marquez is the best counter-puncher in the game. Barrera’s win over Morales only proves one of two things: 1) Barrera has Morales number or 2) Morales is overrated (which I think is the case). Pacquiao has been undefeated since his win against your “Idol” Barrera, and judging by their first fight, which wasn’t even competitive, Pacquiao has Barrera’s number. And unless he proves otherwise, Barrera should never be rated higher in a P4P list against Pacman. – Jasper
I can’t believe you have the gall to call Erik Morales “overrated” and then say I’m biased. You have to be biased and BLIND to think El Terrible is overrated. You’re telling me that all Barrera’s win over Morales proved is that Terrible overrated and that Barrera has his number? So I guess Barrera didn’t even have to train for the rubber match, huh? Good God, man, you’re sick in the head.
I tell you what, Jasper, I’ll switch Barrera with Pacquiao if you can do two things: the first thing is make a reasonable argument that Juan Manuel Marquez should have been ranked higher, pound for pound, (when Pacquiao fought him earlier this year) than Erik Morales was recently (no. 3). The second thing is to make an argument that Pacquiao has accomplished more in the ring than Barrera has in the last four or five years. If you can do this, I’ll be happy to make PacMan my no. 4 and Barrera my no. 6.
DEAR MR. KNOW NOTHING
i used to think u knew boxing… but got damn…. ur pound for pound lists r so off…it’s funny don’t get me wrong u got most right… but the made some awful errors… – Cute PR Male
It only looks like I’m making errors, “Mr. Male”. I’m just so far advanced in my boxing know-how that my logic LOOKS illogical to fight fans who can’t see past their favorite fighters or remember what happened in the sport in previous years.
DEAR MR. ERROR
Two errors on your pound for pound list:
Hopkins is 45-2-1; and Joel Casamayor is 1-2 this year, not 0-2. He easily outpointed Daniel Seda during the summertime. Heh. – Joe
I stand corrected, Stat Boy. Thanks for the correct information. But please, don’t tell Cute PR Male.
ALMOST PERFECT LIST
Good p4p list, the only thing I would change is placing Rafael Marquez ahead of his brother and Tarver. Marquez beat Tim Austin and that was a huge win, Austin was on many peoples p4p list and he also beat Johnson 2x. All his brother has done is Joke Gainer and he did lose to Pacqaio, he is only champion because a judge did not know how to score. Merry Christmas – Paul Bedi
Happy Holidays, Paul. Yeah, you can make an argument for placing Rafa above both Tarver and Big Bro, but as good as Tim Austin was and as great as Marc Johnson was – I didn’t rank either guy inside of my Top 15 at the time that Marquez stopped them. Tarver KTFO’d the no. 1 guy on my list and JMM held a Top 10 fighter to a draw (a decision that I agreed with, along with the 10-7 first round).
REPLACE TARVER WITH ODLH
Good p4p list, I’d only replace Tarver with Oscar de la hoya. Overall, Oscar had done more and being knocked out by a body punch shouldnt take him off top 10 p4p. Remember that Oscar was winning rounds in his fight verses the p4p #1 until the body punch landed. Tarver on the other hand, as you heard many time before, took alot of rounds off fighting a guy whos little far from being top 10 p4p. Tarver was also breathing very heavy by the end of the 12th round (makes you wonder how bad he would of looked if it was a 15 round fight). – Iyad
I respect Oscar’s willingness to take on the best fighters of each division he tries to conquer, but the bottom line is that Tarver knocked out the no. 1 P4P man this year, while De La Hoya got KO’d by the new no. 1 guy. There’s a bit of a difference, wouldn’t you agree?
PRINTING ERRORS?
Dougie, Is that a printing error? Your P4P list’s has Barrera in the number 4 slot. Pacquiao number 6. Tarver at 8, with Glencoffe in the also rans. I can see why you might have Tarver at 8 over Glencoffe. MaxBoxing scored the fight 116-113 and I scored it 116-112 both for Tarver. This is where it get’s complicated because the judges saw a different fight. Do You think the P4P lists would be better off if when a fighter loses no matter how close the score they should be removed from the list? Glencoffe was the winner even though some of our scores say Tarver won. Glencoffe is being penalized for beating Tarver. Do you think too much emphasis is placed on the fighters previous history. Perhaps Glencoffe’s 9 defeats is too much to overcome to be recognized as a elite fighter. Besides Glencoffe also defeated Clinton Woods. As for Barrera over Pacquiao it should be reversed. Pacquaio proved he is better than Barrera. Do you have any steadfast rules for where a fighters standing should be? (Hey Dougie happy holidays your column keeps getting better and better.) – wayne in woodland hills, ca
Happy Holidays, Wayne. When PacMan gobbled up Barrera, he proved to be the better featherweight in late ’03, not the better fighter, pound-for-pound. It doesn’t matter to me who the judges or the fans think really won Tarver-Johnson; if Tarver pulled it out on the official cards by a point or two, I still would have dropped him a bit on the list and I still would have added Johnson to the Top 15. (By the way, Johnson is no. 11 on my list – he’s not an “also ran”.)
Why would I drop a fighter completely from the list just because of one loss? For me, it depends on who the fighter lost to. Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley and Joel Casamayor have lost a few times in the past two years, but only to quality opposition, so they remain on my list.
Of course, I’m going to take into consideration a fighter’s past when I determine the rankings. That’s what makes pound-for-pound ranking different than divisional rankings. I give extra credit to guys who put together long win streaks and title defenses like Bernard Hopkins and Kostya Tszyu. I also give extra credit to guys who climb in weight in search of challenges like Floyd Mayweather or Erik Morales. It takes a number of years to accomplish what fighters like Hopkins, Mayweather, Tszyu and Morales have, so I would never just look at what a fighter has done in one particular year.
Most fans seem to determine where a fighter is ranked pound-for-pounds based on one win over a big-named fighter but that’s not how it is. Bernard Hopkins did not become the no. 1 pound-for-pound fighter simply by beating Felix Trinidad back in ’01. He gradually worked his way up the list, first breaking into the Top 10 in late ’99/early ’00 with solid wins over Antwun Echols and Syd Vanderpool, which tied him with Marvin Hagler in terms of title defenses. Then he got a little higher on the list by knocking out Echols in their rematch and partially unifying the middleweight titles beating Keith Holmes, before breaking into the Top 5 by totally unifying the titles and tying Carlos Monzon’s title defense record with his TKO of Tito. But that still didn’t make him number one. Nard had to stay undefeated and Roy Jones had to fall from his perch before he was upgraded to no. 1. Had Nard not been undefeated for more than 10 years and not broken the middleweight title defense record he probably would not have been made the top dog once Jones fell off (Floyd Mayweather probably would have been everybody’s pick). So a fighter’s consistency over a number of years is always factored in when compiling a pound-for-pound list.
DOWN WITH TARVER AND MOSLEY
Hey Dougie, I generally agree with your list except for Tarver and Moseley. No, I’m not a Tarver hater and I think he deserves to be in the top 20, but come on, number 8? I watched the fight with Glen Johnson and in my opinion, Tarver lost without any question. I was totally surprised that the punch stats favored Tarver because Johnson was the aggressor during the entire fight and really worked him over to the body. Had Johnson followed up some of those most wicked body shots he delivered, I think he could have gotten Antonio out of there. Tarver had his moments but I never sensed he had any advantage over Johnson or ever had him close to being in trouble. As for Shane Moseley, sorry, but he needs to be out of the top 20 until he beats somebody. He had a gift win over Oscar and the guy has been mostly a bust since moving up from lightweight. Only his reputation is carrying him now. The rest of your top 20, while people will argue about who belongs where, I think is good and well thought out. I think Cory Spinks ought to be in the number 8 position. I don’t particularly like Spinks and think he’s beatable, but the guy is an undisputed champ and so you have to give him his props just for that. I’d rather see V Klitschko in the top 20 over Moseley. He might be awkward, but he’s the man at heavyweight until somebody else says differently. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. – James
Happy Holidays, James. Why wouldn’t Tarver be no. 8? He KTFO’d the guy who was the no. 1 on the list this year. Before that, he gave no. 1 hell for 12 rounds (busting up RJ’s face like no one ever had). Before that, Tarver beat five contenders and won two world titles. Doesn’t that count for something?
As for Mosley, the guy has only lost to two guys in his entire career – and it’s not like that those two guys can’t fight. It’s not like everyone else in the welterweight and junior middleweight divisions was lining up to fight Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright. I give Sugar Man credit for taking on fighters that everyone avoided. I give him props for having the balls to take them on in immediate rematches. Doesn’t that count for something?
I’m more impressed with what Tarver has done in his last four or five fights than what Spinks (three world titles or not) or V-Klitsch have done in their last three or four fights.
TARVER’S GOTTA GO!!!
Dougie, how can you have Tarver over Glen p4p when he lost to him, and he didn’t look like a great fighter in there. He is a good fighter, but to be a great fighter, and p4p, you need to be the complete package. His mind isn’t right, to take rounds off like that, even against Jones, where he should have known he couldn’t coast, and he clearly lost the last 2-3 rounds to Jones, I had him losing the last 3 rounds to Johnson, and in the Jones fight he never did a damn thing in the middle of the ring. Yeah, he starched Jones with his eyes closed, but was it really that impressive after what Johnson did to him? And the way Johnson did it to him? Can you see Tarver moving up and dominating bigger guys? I don’t think so, so in my opinion, not really pound for pound. Also, I think in recent years, we have gone too far with the p4p lists, it has gotten out of control. People have to have a list with 20 names on it, so, they have to fill it with 20 names. But that does not mean that 20 people are truly p4p deserving, just better than the rest. Now, is Tarver one of the best Lt heavies in the world, yes, but that doesn’t make you p4p. Hell look at the cruiserweights, I don’t know who the best is, but I wouldn’t rank him p4p. You get my point.
I’m no big Glen fan, but he moved from 160, to 68, to 75 to KTFO the greatest p4p fighter, some said of all time at a higher weight class. I think that is more the definition of p4p. Now I’m not trying to make the arguement for Johnson being much higher, but higher than Tarver. Your response is appreciated. – JB
How can you give Glen Johnson credit for knocking out Roy Jones without giving MORE credit to Tarver, who did it first? I don’t understand why so many fight fans have short-term memories. Let me refresh your memory. When Tarver KTFO’d Jones, people were in shock — literally, in shock. I was at that fight. I left ringside to file my deadline story and do a radio spot on W-FAN in New York from the press room. After my radio spot, almost 20 minutes after I got to the press room, I looked around and the place was still empty. Why? Even the reporters were in awe of what they had just witnessed. Of the 8,000 or so fans who filled the Mandalay Bay Events Center, about 4,000 were still in their seats, starring at the empty ring or talking on their cell phones. Just seven months later WAY too many fight fans are acting like what Tarver did was no big deal. Like they saw this coming. Like they KNEW Jones was on the decline and was going to get caught. Yeah right! Now they say Tarver just got lucky. What a bunch of DOO-DOO!!!!
Tarver’s KO of Jones was not luck. He lobbied for years to get his shots at RJ. And when he starched Jones, he took out a guy who had been inside the Top 5 pound-for-pound in the world for 10 years. It makes absolutely NO SENSE to discredit Tarver’s KO of Jones just because Johnson did it later. Somebody had to be the first fighter to do it and it was Tarver, not Johnson or anyone else.
Johnson gets points for KOing Jones, but not as many as Tarver. Tarver KTFO’d Jones when Jones was still regarded as the no. 1 P4P fighter. Jones was my no. 5 p4p fighter after the Tarver KO when Johnson got him, but MANY boxing writers and insiders had dropped Jones from their Top 10 after his first KO loss. (Steve Kim wrote a story about this – go back and search the archives if you don’t remember.)
If KTFOing the no. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world can’t get you inside the Top 10, I don’t know what can. Yes, Tarver lost to Johnson, but he was far from dominated in that fight. It was pretty much a stand-off after 12 rounds. I thought Tarver dropped two of the last three rounds, but a lot of people (including two of the official judges) thought he WON two of the last three rounds. So Tarver drops from 4 to 8 (after ONE CLOSE loss to a damn good fighter), while Johnson makes his P4P debut at no. 11. I think that’s more than fair.
MORE TARVER HATE, ER DISAPPOINTMENT
Doug, I’m one of those who criticized Tarver’s PFP ranking after his loss to Johnson. The difference is I’m not a Jones nut hugger, on the contrary, I was a big critic of Jones. A disappointed Tarver fan is the more correct term.
1. Tarver loses to Harding – He claims he didn’t train as hard as he should have. Is that a sign of lack of commitment? 2. Tarver is losing hands down to Harding until he manages to land a big punch – Where are the signs of superior boxing skills? A top PFP fighter should at least be able to stay in the fight, even if he can’t KO the opponent. 3. Tarver loses to Roy – Antonio was successful only when a weakened Roy leaned on the ropes and that wasn’t because Antonio forced him there. Antonio had the chance to pull the trigger on that fight, but didn’t have it in him. Can you imagine a Barrera, Hopkins, Tito, Mayweather, Marquez, etc, not pulling the trigger in that position? Tarver may be too defensive minded or has a stamina problem. He seems to hold back too much. Even a very defensive minded PBF puts an offensive display whipping on his opponents. 4. Tarver is losing to Roy and looked tentative until the one punch KO – I have refused to call this a lucky punch. But as sharp as Roy looked in that first round, I seriously doubt Tarver would had won had he not been able to stop Roy with one punch. 5. Tarver, probably won a close decision to Johnson, but loses on the score cards. Man, this is not the stuff of PFP champs. Tarver showed little aggressiveness, seemed out of breath. Antonio takes rounds off. Is his stamina, not top notch? He simply could not separate himself from a man that before the Roy stoppage was an average fighter with disputed, but nevertheless losses to nobodies.
Common Doug, Tarver has no dominating performances against top opponents. He has no winning long streaks. Had he dominated Johnson, as I expected, I would had been sold. But his performance makes you think of another fighter who gets a lofty PFP win by beating one single opponent. – Rudy C.
You know I don’t rank Tarver solely for his KO win over Roy Jones. I’ve stated his credentials every time I’ve listed him inside the Top 10. I’m not even going to bother repeating it, because you KNOW what he did to earn his shot at Jones (who tried to avoid him). It looks like you’re clutching for straws in your argument against Tarver being a Top 10 fighter.
1. Perhaps it was a lack of commitment, or maybe Tarver underestimated his opponent. It’s something the “great” Roy Jones has admitted to in the past. Hell, the all-time P4P King, Sugar Ray Robinson, lost fights because of this. Tarver also fought on and finished that fight with a broken jaw; that showed a lot of heart.
2. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that Harding rematch went FIVE rounds, right? So why does everyone always tell me that Tarver was losing that fight? You’re telling me that Tarver was behind on the scorecards after THREE rounds, and this is a big deal? WTF!? People PLEASE! This ain’t the amateurs. They were in a professional fight. They had 12 rounds to fight. Who cares who was ahead on the scorecards after three rounds!? Tarver dropped Harding in the fourth and KTFO’d him in the fifth (Jones and Johnson never came close to knocking Harding out when they fought him). Why doesn’t anybody tell me about how Tarver was leading on the scorecards after four or five rounds in the first Harding fight? Because IT DOESN’T MATTER – HE LOST!!!!!!!!!
3. Um, yeah, I can imagine Hopkins not pulling the trigger on Roy Jones, because he didn’t do it when they fought back in ’93. Tito, Mayweather, and Marquez have never been in the ring with a fighter like Jones. Tarver gave Jones his toughest fight, and don’t talk to me about weight drain, James Toney suffered from weight drain and guess what? It was his own damn fault, just like it was Roy’s fault for losing too much weight, too fast (and for probably underestimating Tarver). Bottom line: Tarver gave him hell and then got the job done in the rematch.
4. You can tell all of that by one round? Um, yeah. OK, dude. That was just the first round. NOTHING HAPPENED! Jones threw maybe eight punches, none of which landed clean. Tarver threw ZERO!!!! That’s why Jones won that round. It’s not like he jumped Tarver’s ass Glen Johnson style. Give me a break!!!!!!!
5. “He simply could not separate himself from a man that before the Roy stoppage was an average fighter with disputed, but nevertheless loses to nobodies.”
Now I really disagree with this statement. Tarver lost a razor-thin verdict to a DAMN good fighter. Johnson’s only decisive loss was to Hopkins. And among his disputed losses are home-town decisions to former IBF 168-pound champ Sven Ottke, former WBA light heavyweight titlist Silvio Branco and former WBO light heavyweight title holder Julio Gonzalez. These aren’t “nobodies” (and if you ever get a chance to view these fights on tape, you’ll see that he did not lose to them).
