Click for larger image © Mike McGuigan / Saddo Boxing
It was one of the most anticipated fights in the past 10 years of boxing and all the ballers made the trip to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this past Saturday. Vince Carter, Edgerrine James, Javon Kearse, Floyd Mayweather, A.I, even Jordan himself showed up. For the past few months, every time boxing was mentioned on ESPN or in the magazines, somewhere in there was Antonio Tarver flapping his lips and selling those wolf tickets. “I get no respect, I beat up [an old] Roy Jones, I’m the legend killer, the new Rocky is coming out, I guarantee knockout….blah blah blah”.
Then on the other hand, you had Bernard Hopkins, one of the biggest names in the game. B-Hop was on a quest; he wanted to do what no prize fighter has ever pulled off, jump up from middleweight to light heavy and take the belt. He was intent on doing that and then walking away… for good. His track record speaks for itself. An all time record 20 consecutive middleweight title defenses, unified the titles in the tournament of champions and destroyed Trinidad and De La Hoya.
But many were saying that was the old B-Hop; that this 41 year old won’t get it done, especially after coming fresh off of two losses (yes, he did lose both fights) to Jermain Taylor. No way he can take Tarver’s punch, they said, no way can he jump two weight classes and expect to win. They said B-Hop didn’t have a prayer. Vegas co-signed that statement by pegging him a 3-1 underdog.
Well guess what? B-Hop was up to his old tricks; beating the odds, beating the system, doing it his way. His final performance was nothing short of a masterpiece, one which cements his legacy as one of the greatest pound for pound fighters on all time and certifies his spot in the Boxing Hall of Fame.
B- Hop pulled off the impossible. Sugar Ray Robinson couldn’t make the jump to take the gold. The Eagles, Sixers Phillies & Flyers couldn’t give Philadelphia a championship. Roy Jones & Glen Johnson couldn’t dominate Antonio Tarver. Not even Arturo Gatti could draw a crowd like this in Atlantic City. What a way to say farewell!
For months, Antonio Tarver talked the talk but when the lights came on he couldn’t walk the walk. When he stepped between the ropes, he ran into the Bernard Hopkins of old, the aggressive, exciting, cagey ring veteran who fights his heart out and leaves it all in the ring. Hopkins came with a sound strategy and methodically picked apart his bigger opponent.
In the opening rounds, Hopkins was able to dodge the jab and land inside. If Tarver set up to throw the left, Hopkins would clinch and when they did, Hopkins was constantly give the ribs a nice beating. Hopkins began to throw an effective straight right hand to the head which connected at a high percentage.
In the fifth, a crisp right rocked Tarver, knocking him backwards and putting a glove on the canvas which was called a knockdown. Tarver tried to respond but kept coming up with air when he swung. By the seventh, Tarver was obviously frustrated and B-Hop began to go for the knockout, firing off combinations to the head and body of Tarver.
By the tenth, Tarver was a broken man who was being humiliated live on pay-per-view. The fight ended with Hopkins playing to the crowd as he applied his beating and the fans were never louder at Boardwalk Hall, as the sell out crowd chanted “B-Hop, B-Hop”
Click for larger image © Mike McGuigan / Saddo Boxing
