Roy Jones vs. Antonio Tarver
 

Does anyone think Tarver has a chance? I do, but I don't think he'll be able to take advantage of it. Jones is weak from losing so much weight so fast, but his speed will still completely astound Tarver, who should be lying on his back before the fight is over.

I'll take Jones in this one. The lead-in is compelling - a former class chapion comes back to his weight class to fight his successor.

I know Tarver doesn't have the skills to match Jones - but few do.

Jones in eight.

I'll go with Jones as well. I just hope its a K.O. though. I have lost all faith in fight judges.
Should be a good bout either way. I'll be sure to catch this one.

exactly what i was thinking.
Jones will KO Tarver in the 8th.

i´m a bit biased though, the number of extra chocolate hot chocolates i had to make for him... man, he had better win.

Jones had better win, it's the last saving grace in boxing. What a horrible, yet compelling year of boxing.

What a disaster is would be if Jones happen to just get unlucky, and have the worst fight of his entire life (Even yet, he's so good he'll probably still win) and he loses. Those upper wheight classes are a complete joke. Jones is the saving grace of those 175+ classes.

But how cool would it be for Tarver to suprise all of us and put in a badass performance against the worlds best boxer? A long shot, I know, but it would kick ass.

Cool? Kick ass? ARE YOU CRAZY?

Boxing would die. Seriously. What is the biggest name in boxing right now that can actually draw people? Roy Jones Jr. If boxing loses him, the next on the list is the very unliked Lennox Lewis. Not good.

^^

I'm with him.

Let's not get carried away, Mike Tyson is still far and away the biggest draw in boxing. However, you're right, Jones' losing would be horrible for boxing. Fortunately, I think it's going to be nothing more than target practice for him (*please be right*). And speaking of Tyson, Jones has actually talked with him recently about making the fight of the century (as sales go anyway). It would be a nice conclusion to both their careers.

thru round 8, ESPN "unofficially" has it scored 76-76. so, looks like Tarver has a legit shot at winning!

unofficially, ESPN scored it 115-113 for Jones.

officially, Jones won by majority decision. very close fight!!!

Great fight, if Tarver had been able to keep up the same pressure throughout the fight that he did in the first couple rounds he would have won.
As it was, many thought he won. I think the judges got it right this time, but it was a close fight.
The weight loss almost did Jones in, he looked spent by the middle rounds, but hung in and took the last two rounds pretty big.

Tarver OWNED Jones. Jones never landed anything of power. All of his so-called "powershots" were not powerfull at all. Tarver rocked him so many times it's not even funny. How hillarious.

It wasn't a horrible decision, but still, Tarver hurt Jones several times, while all of Jones's little pitter-patt punches did absolutely no damage.

The judge who scored it a draw was the closest to being fair, in my mind.

Jones in no way whatsoever fought like the pound for pound best boxer in the world. And if he's going to blame the weight loss for his crappy performance (which he said he wouldn't before the fight) then he shouldn't have taken the fight.

I "watched" the fight on ESPNews round-by-round. Both Brian Kelly and Max Kellerman agreed with the majority decision.

I think what everyone sadi above is spot on. Although Kelly and Kellerman thought Jones Jr. prevailed, they felt they had never seen him look so bad. He was apparently winded, dropped his gloves, and got hit by combinations. His eye was beginning to swell shut. That said, though, most people thought he won the fight and the judges got it right.

Can you say rematch?

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There will be no rematch, there is no money in it for Jones. Jones said last night, it was most likely his last fight, unless it was Mike Tyson. You may not ever see Jones fight again. Besides, Jones would beat his ass in a rematch properly conditioned.

Jones didn't use an excuse for anything. Larry Merchant asked him, and he said it was part of the reason he was so tired. He didn't make excuses, he answered what he was asked. He was winded, he was tired. He took the fight because someone stood up, called him out, he took the fight, He had 6 months to prepare. He had to lose 27 pounds (His walking wheight was was around 202 Foreman said). It's hard to go down, Jones gained enough muscle to be a heavyweight. He had to lean himself out, and exhaust himself everyday to get to where he was. He was hardly properly conditioned.

And he STILL won. And he DID win. If you think otherwise, you didn't watch the fight. He lost 20 poinds to get there in 6 months. Leaned himself, and still beat Tarver. I love Jones haters, they can't deal with the fact he's just simply the best, and one of the best pound for pound of all time.

People need to quit reading ESPN and the people criticizing him for the fight. Give him a little respect losing wheight to meet this guy, and fighting, and winning. It's not easy to lose 20 pounds when you have NO body fat. If they think it's a sign of Jones being weak, or losing his stuff, they're idiots.

Kurant, you are obviously a Jones fan. And good for you; so am I. But just because I think Tarver won this fight doesn't make me a Jones hater. It just means my opinion is the same opinion of all of the ringside fans who booed the decision after it was announced (which I have never seen happen in a Jones fight, and I've seen them all.)

Jones won, but I DO think otherwise, and I DID watch the fight. It was his shittiest performance ever, and he's lucky he got some leanient judges, 'cause he got womped on.

He also didn't give Tarver due respect after the fight. But Jones never does. He's like De La Hoya in the aspect that he never admits to being hurt, even when we saw him wobbled, being shoved around the ring.

He's no longer "obviously" the best. There is now competition out there who can hang.

And by the way, someone having a different opinion than you does not mean they are inferior to you intellectually. It does not make them an idiot to disagree with you.

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Come on, use a LITTLE common sense, the man just lost 20+ pounds in 6 months. Do you think it's easy? Do you think your properly conditioned after 6 months of losing solid muscle, eating no carbs, leaning your muscles out so you can get down to 175. Somthing that's only been tried 2 other times in boxing history. It's not easy, and if you think Jones' performence last night showed he's not what you call, the "best?". Your crazy man, you really are. He went out there on raw guts, every boxing anaylist knew this entire week leading up to this fight his conditioning was a big question.

How about realizing what he has just done, somthing only 2 other people have ever been able to accomplish. He is the best, and it's not about being a Jones fan, or a Tarver fan, it's what I saw. Tarver did not win that fight. He lost the last 2 rounds, and 4-5 and 6. You honsetly cannot say Jones lost every other round. If it was even a close call, you woulden't have seen 117-111 and 116-112 cards. Winning 30 seconds of every round with little flurries that didn't land as much as some think (Shown widely by compubox numbers) doesn't win you fights.

Tarver is just lucky he's not a money maker or a huge draw for fans. If there was ever a rematch, Jones had the time to condidtion properly, he would whomp his ass. Jones hasen't lost anything except muscle and conditioning. If Tarver is so good, lets see him step up to the plate around 190 and get in some heavywheight action with Jones, he'd get killed.

BTW, I didn't call you an idiot, but it's quite obvious you want to use "they're" to include you, I didn't make that choice for you.

Don't forget there are three judges, and one had it a draw. So yes, it was a close fight. All analysts who know their shit had it within a few points. The ringside judges rarely know their shit, as those who follow boxing closely know.

And the above post is about everything EXCEPT the fight itself. His weight, his weight loss, his muscle loss, his history, etc, etc...is not what we watched on tv. That's all behind the scenes. That's his problem. We watched him get beat up.

But hey, he won, so that's all that matters.