By Geno McGahee

On May 15th, 2004, Antonio Tarver created a huge buzz in the boxing world with a second round stoppage of pound for pound great, Roy Jones, JR. It was a rematch of a fight that went the distance with Roy coming out with a majority decision win, leaving a lot of controversy. Jones, JR., had made a lot of excuses as to why he didn’t perform well and Tarver felt disrespected, leading to one of the most memorable moments in boxing, as memorable as Roy left on the floor that night. Prior to the opening bell, at the stare down, the referee asked both sides if they had any questions and Tarver said that he did and asked: “Do you have any excuses tonight Roy?” A straight left hand in round two ended the night and left no doubt. The judges never came into play and a star was born…well, sort of.

Glen Johnson, coming off a stoppage of Roy Jones, JR., himself, met up with Tarver in a high profile fight on HBO, and it was a chance for “The Magic Man” to capitalize on the Jones victory, but would be outworked and would lose a split decision to Johnson. Boxing is an unforgiving sport and the fans tend to move on quickly. Tarver’s rematch victory did not bring them back.

A starring role in ROCKY BALBOA as “Mason Dixon,” didn’t help his fading star and neither did a third encounter with Roy Jones, JR., a fight that he won with relative ease. A bout with Bernard Hopkins was another opportunity to bring Tarver back to the status he once had as a major player in boxing and a pound for pound top fighter. He vowed to stop Hopkins and that was really the sale in the fight. Hopkins is never in exciting fights and you are promised twelve ugly rounds whenever he steps into the ring, but the idea that Tarver is the bigger man and has a big punch and may be the guy that sends “The Executioner” packing was enough to sell it. The time off filming the movie, weight fluctuation, and lack of focus was enough for Hopkins to dominate and take the win over Tarver. That was it. Tarver was no longer a major factor in boxing.

In his last six fights, Tarver has gone 3-3, 1 KO. At 42 years of age, Tarver is bypassing the cruiserweight division and moving right up to the heavyweight game, taking on Nagy Aguilera, 16-4, 11 KO’s, in a ten round bout being shown on Showtime’s SHOBOX. Tarver brings in a record of 27-6, 19 KO’s, and hopes to follow the footsteps of Michael Spinks and Michael Moorer, men that have moved up from 175 to win heavyweight gold, but neither started this late in the game.

With recent moves up in weight for David Haye, former cruiserweight champion turned WBA Heavyweight Champion, and Tomasz Adamek, former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion turned current top contender, it’s not a surprise that Tarver would make this move. Add in the mediocre state of the division, there may be a chance to turn a few bucks for a man that has ran his course at 175.

With the faded reflexes, this move might be a good idea for Tarver because the opposition will be much slower than the boxers he faced at light heavyweight. In his bouts with Chad Dawson, Tarver showed an inability to pull the trigger and was dominated. He was too quick for the old warrior.

So we have a washed up light heavyweight moving up to the heavyweight division. What can we expect from his first opponent?

Nagy Aguilera’s opposition has a collective record of 246 wins, 213 losses, and 18 draws. A lot of heavyweights with impressive records aren’t that impressive when you inspect the opposition and that is the case with Aguilera. He was a spoon fed fighter, leading to his first real live fighter in 2009, when he faced a faded former WBC Champion Oleg Maskaev. Maskaev, at the time, was in line for a shot at the heavyweight title and was taking on a list of mediocrities to keep busy. Aguilera was another.

The match didn’t go according to script and Aguilera blitzed Maskaev and knocked him cold in less than two minutes. That would lead to an IBF Title Eliminator with Sam Peter, another former WBC Champion, but this one wasn’t nearly as faded and Aguilera was starched in two rounds. Recently, Aguilera would vie for the USBA Heavyweight Title against Maurice Harris, a battle-tested fighter with a record of 23-14-2…just the sort of fighter that a prospect should beat but have a tough go of it. Harris easily won, which isn’t a good sign for Aguilera.

The Harris fight was probably enough to convince Team Tarver to accept him as an opponent. Tarver, even well beyond his better years in the game, still has his great skill and expect him to use it to control Aguilera, but there is certainly a risk. Tarver is facing a true heavyweight, a 230 pound fighter that packs power in both hands and may not be the best technically, but he may prove to be too strong if he can impose himself on Tarver.

This Saturday, we will see what Tarver the heavyweight looks like. He should be able to use his skill to overcome Aguilera by a decision, but I expect it to be close, somewhere around 97-93 or 96-94. Tarver, still carrying a name in boxing, may be able to turn this victory into a title shot and that is when a concern for a 40 plus former 175 pounder should be expressed. I don’t know if Tarver is looking for a title or just a quick run of money-making fights, but we will see. It is an interesting move by the Magic Man.

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