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May 16, 2004
The Magic Man Dusts Superman
Ringside Report with HUGE Photo Gallery
by
Bill Emes - Ringside
Las Vegas -
Antonio Tarver shocked the boxing world last night with a 2nd round straight left that disconnected
Roy Jones Jr. and sent him crashing to the canvas in their WBC light heavyweight championship fight. Jones Jr., now 49-2, struggled to regain his bearings, as he reached his feet before the count of 10, but referee Jay Nady had seen enough, stopping the bout at 1:41 of the second round, as the still dazed Jones stood in front of him.
"I would have knocked anybody out with that shot tonight, cause I hit him right in the kisser," said an elated Tarver, now 22-2, at the post fight press conference. "Oh, it was a beautiful punch, I felt it to the bottom of my toes," he added, when asked if he knew right away that he had landed a knockout blow.
The first round drew some booing from the capacity crowd at the Mandalay Bay events center, a round in which both fighters seemed tentative and did very little pressing. Late in round one, Jones began to back Tarver up, and it looked early that Jones was going to set the pace for the fight. No surprise to anyone, all 3 judges had round one scored for Jones.
"He brought out what he had in the first round, I was gonna bring out what I had in the second, and I was gonna let him know it was gonna be a long night," said Tarver, when asked what adjustments he made when coming out for the second round.
But a long night it was not, as "The Magic Man" changed boxing history with one shot that now leaves the future of the recognized Pound for Pound best in limbo. Jones, who opted to forego the post fight press conference, is left to decide whether or not to rematch Tarver, move up to challenge the heavyweight division, or possibly even retire, which is something "Superman" has contemplated in the past.
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As for Tarver's options, his future seems wide open. When asked if a move to heavyweight is in his future, he replied "Well, I'm gonna enjoy this victory, it doesn't matter...if I'm in shape and conditioned, I'll fight any man, any fighter," and added "The sky's the limit with me right now, I'm the new face in boxing."
The Undercard
Judah ekes one out vs. Pineda, Nobles gets past Seldon
Fighting for the second time in 6 weeks, and just off a close decision loss to welterweight champion Cory Spinks,
Zab "Super" Judah looked unimpressive but did enough to win versus a game
Rafael Pineda. Judah, who knocked his opponent down with a flush combination in the seventh round, was unable to finish the Colombian who proved he came to fight.
Pineda pressed Judah for the remaining rounds, as Judah spent much of rounds 8-12 clowning and unwilling to engage, as he had done so brilliantly in the seventh. But his clowning and lack of aggressiveness did not fare well for him on the judges scorecards, as he dropped many of the late rounds to the more aggressive Pineda. In the end, the result was a split decision victory for Judah, the knockdown proving to be the edge in a very un-entertaining match-up.
With Spinks in attendance at the post presser, Don King announced that a re-match between the two southpaws was on the way, although he did not go into specifics nor answer when or where.
In other undercard action, Gerald Nobles kept his unbeaten record in tact despite being knocked down by comeback fighter Bruce "The Atlantic City Express" Seldon. Seldon was leading on 2 of the 3 judges scorecards, and then mysteriously took a knee in the ninth after Nobles apparently thumbed him.
Post-Fight Press Conference
Antonio Tarver spoke at the post-fight press conference, however Roy Jones Jr. didn't show. Don King has a rematch between welterweight champion Cory Spinks and Zab Judah in the works.
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