Antonio Tarver Stark Raving Mad

By G. Leon

22/04/2008

Antonio Tarver Stark Raving Mad

GL: Can you give us some thoughts on the Calzaghe-Hopkins fight? "I mean Calzaghe fought a strategic fight and he pressed Hopkins and Hopkins looked 43. He wasn't throwing no punches, he was throwing one punch at a time trying to be his old cagey self. But you have to take your hat off to Calzaghe, he beat him at his own game. The fight was not interesting. There was no electrifying moments in the fight except for the flash knockdown. But that's what Hopkins does, he makes ugly fights. To Calzaghe's credit he stayed focused, he did what he had to do and he won the fight, but there was no fireworks at all. There were no real serious shots being delivered and if you saw one round you saw them all. That's my take on it."

GL: Hopkins is saying he's retired and now Calzaghe is calling himself the legend killer and it seems like a fight with Roy Jones Jr is on the horizon for him...

Antonio Tarver: (cutting in) "He needs to give credit where credit is due. He ain't knock nothing out. Sure he won't a bullshit boring decision, but when the torch was passed I knocked somebody and that's the secret, I bring excitement to the table. I'm electrifying and they want to minimize my accomplishments in the game of boxing. The politics and politricks of the game, I'm the only unified champion in the division and how dare they have the audacity and the gall to mention anybody's name. My whole thing is, I'm not calling anybody out, I'm the best by far and I've proven that. My whole thing is, they had me losing to Clinton Woods. I told them what I was going to do and I did it. Easily. There was supposed to be this big European showdown with Woods and Calzaghe and I put a monkey wrench in that plan.

"I proved that I was the better figher, not by a small margin. Not by a little bit, by a landslide, by a lot. I proved it in the end when they felt I would have no legs or no stamina. I continue to prove these people wrong and I want to let the whole world know that I've never had a major promoter like HBO pushing for me. I've never had a Don King pushing for me. I'm came out of the Olympics. I fought on HBO several times, but guess what? It wasn't to elevate my career, it was to stunt my growth. Every time my left and right hands were my judge and my jury. I took risks they said I wouldn't take. I did what they don't do because they don't have the confidence in their ability. They hide behind these managers, they hide behind these promoters and they hide behind these networks and then they want to spoon feed the public these celebrity boxing exhibitions and they want to call it real fights. It's a travesty. How dare they mentione, Glen Johnson, Chad Dawson and of all people, Roy Jones Jr?

"To solidify ordinary Joe Calzaghe's historical moment in boxing, I'm going to put everyone on Britian on notice. Joe Calzaghe needs to step up and fight a true fighter. A fighter that's proven that he had an off night against Hopkins. That wasn't me and I'm out to prove to the world that I'm the best light heavyweight in this era. This ain't Hopkins era, this ain't Roy Jones Jr's era. At the end of the day they're going to realize that this was Antonio Tarver's era all the while. If Joe wants to keep his 0 intact. Let him pick a Roy Jones Jr, somebody I destroyed not once, not twice, but three times. If he beats Roy Jones he ain't did nothing special. Glen Johnson knocked him out."

GL: It sounds like you want to fight Joe Calzaghe more than Chad Dawson, is that correct?

AT: "I want to fight the best. Joe Calzaghe has never been defeated and Roy Jones Jr had never been defeated until he met me. I'm here to put the world on notice, I knock Joe Calzaghe out, period. There's not a better punching counter puncher in America. If he wants to keep that 0 intact tell him to run and pick Roy Jones Jr. Roy is just a hand picked opponent."

GL: If Calzaghe and Roy do wind up fighting...

AT: (cutting in) "It don't matter what I'm going to do. I'm going to do what I have to do, but either way I'm going to expose him for what he is as long as I have a voice. And my voice will be heard. I guarantee you that I'm recognized around the globe. Rocly Balboa was world wide and my credentials speak for themself in boxing. I've never had no super promoter behind me, marketing me. I had to go out there and knock out people they said couldn't be beat, and now they want to close their eyes and act like that don't exist. That's the travesty of the game of boxing. It ain't about being the best or proving yourself to be the best, it's about being promoted by the Super Promoter HBO. I've already crossed over to the mainstream and there ain't no better promoter than me. Roy Jones Jr doesn't promote nothing and he don't see nothing.

"He's going to go in there and do nothing because he don't knock nothing out. He still hasn't recovered from the post-Tarver syndrome. He needs to find him another welterweight to fight and get on out of my division. And if Calzage isn't out to fight the best then he needs to go back down to super middleweight, if not come get these titles. Other than that, there's nothing to say. I'm ready to expose him for the fraud that he is and knock him out. They know that, he's got no chin, he comes in with that pitty pat and he leaves himself wide open. I'm going to expose him for the fraud that he is. Step up and get knocked out. It's over now G."

M

Send questions and comments to: boxingtalkg@yahoo.com