BoxRec

There are whispers floating around cyber-space that former Light-Heavyweight Champion and sometimes movie star Antonio Tarver may return to fight IBF Light Heavyweight titlist Clinton Woods sometime in early 2007.

Any opinions fight fans?

this would of been an excellent fight before rocky 6 but i feel after rocky 6 and hopkins tarver just isnt gonna be the same fighter and clinton can win a UD

the duke wrote:this would of been an excellent fight before rocky 6 but i feel after rocky 6 and hopkins tarver just isnt gonna be the same fighter and clinton can win a UD

Yeah I think the Balboa fight took a lot out of him

Would be interesting to see where this fight is supposed to take place, if it's in the UK I would wonder if Tarver is looking to get a few more paydays before retiring.

J-C wrote:

the duke wrote:this would of been an excellent fight before rocky 6 but i feel after rocky 6 and hopkins tarver just isnt gonna be the same fighter and clinton can win a UD

Yeah I think the Balboa fight took a lot out of him

Would be interesting to see where this fight is supposed to take place, if it's in the UK I would wonder if Tarver is looking to get a few more paydays before retiring.

no one quite works the body like balboa so his stamina will not be what is was

Tarver isnt the same after the Balboa fight but still edges a 7th round KO of Woods.

Balboas a fraud - conning the public that a LHW Champ is the man at HW. He beat a shot Creed, ducked Lang and made him wait till he was past his prime for his shot, Lang still won but was injured coming into the rematch, Rocky ducked the rubber match with Lang, got a lucky win against Drago who complained off Rockys manager Don King poisoning him. It was Dragos pro-debut and Drago had never went past 3rounds before. He would go onto duck the rematch with Drago

Anyway I actually thought Balboas comeback was dangerous. We all know that gloved fights are far more dangerous than bare fist fights after Rocky 5.

At this stage of Tarver's career, I'd expect Woods to add his scalp to that of Johnson. Tarver was so meek in his defeat to Hopkins that it has to be questioned whether or not he has the will to carry on. I wouldn't expect this one to happen though.

Tarver beats Woods... easily.

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:Balboas a fraud - conning the public that a LHW Champ is the man at HW. He beat a shot Creed, ducked Lang and made him wait till he was past his prime for his shot, Lang still won but was injured coming into the rematch, Rocky ducked the rubber match with Lang, got a lucky win against Drago who complained off Rockys manager Don King poisoning him. It was Dragos pro-debut and Drago had never went past 3rounds before. He would go onto duck the rematch with Drago

Anyway I actually thought Balboas comeback was dangerous. We all know that gloved fights are far more dangerous than bare fist fights after Rocky 5.

The ROCKY films are the most pathetic, soggy wish fulfilment movies, that are dumb enough to suggest there is a world champion in all of us. Not only that, they're also a bit dodgy in that the white guy has to beat the black man, the Yank has to beat the Russian etc

Can't stand any of them. There are far better boxing films, FAT CITY, THE SET-UP, HARDER THEY FALL, CHAMPION.

I even prefer THE GLADIATOR, the one about the unlicenced boxing shows run by Brian Dennehy, with an early performacne by Cuba Gooding Jr.

glittermonkey wrote:At this stage of Tarver's career, I'd expect Woods to add his scalp to that of Johnson. Tarver was so meek in his defeat to Hopkins that it has to be questioned whether or not he has the will to carry on. I wouldn't expect this one to happen though.

I think Tarver maybe needs to move up a division

viciousmaussa wrote:

glittermonkey wrote:At this stage of Tarver's career, I'd expect Woods to add his scalp to that of Johnson. Tarver was so meek in his defeat to Hopkins that it has to be questioned whether or not he has the will to carry on. I wouldn't expect this one to happen though.

I think Tarver maybe needs to move up a division

I think it's probably too late for a move up to improve Tarver's fortunes. Especially when cruiser is a stronger division at the moment. He's an old man now, who, I believe, has lost any motivation he had.

viciousmaussa wrote:Not only that, they're also a bit dodgy in that the white guy has to beat the black man, the Yank has to beat the Russian etc

How is that dodgy?

Would it have been OK if he was black?

I don't think its too unreasonable to say Woods could outwork Tarver to claim a decision. Don't forget, his 'draw' and loss to GJ were both pretty close, as were Tarvers two contest with Johnson. And while Clinton has improved since then, Tarver has looked to be on a bit of a downward slope.

If Woods beats Tarver, will he then go for Hopkins or a rematch with RJJ? Woods is going to be seen as a OAP Abuser.

Woods got taken apart in 6 one-sided rounds by RJJ and lost twice to Johnson. Now hes in the fortuitous position of being gifted an IBF belt and the big names have all aged.

To be fair to Woods hes improved since the first Jones fight and he's in his 30s himself... so we're not talking about a 24 year old beating up 37 yearolds (Ricky Hatton!) ...Clintons proved himself to be world class and while he was disapointing in his last fight (from a technical point of view) he's got all the heart in the world, unlike some rather bigger mouthed fighters I could name... I hope he does get Tarver as I can see him beating him handily, ...Clinton needs to stay busy imo I think his inactivity hurt him in his last fight against Johnson

I fully agree with you Silkov. Woods may not be p4p#1 or even #1 in the division, but he is an extremely honest champion, and has as much entitlement as the other belt holders to claim the top spot at light heavy.
He's trodden a tough path to get to where he is, and his fights with Hoye (where we witnessed the excellent "all new" clinton) Gonzalez and Johnson have been tough and honest. This is in comparison to Erdei, for example, who after a couple of good wins to get where he is, has the belt and the silver spoon for the rest of his career.

I wouldn't begrudge him - in fact it would probably be one of my top preferences - to see Woods fight RJJ again. If he's successful, then maybe we could see him unify with Adamek or Bracno.

Given Tarver is now a film star and has been up at 200lb, I personally wouldn't go near him, and see no reason to do so, until we've seen Tarver back and successful at 175.

btw, I thought Tarver would be fighting for the IBO belt (according to the IBO anyway) against TBA, although Gonzalez has been a muted opponent

I would give Woods a fair chance, after some early career hype (all from his own mouth) it has been revealed more than once that Tarver isn't really very good after all and possesses a serious stamina problem. Look at how many right hands Hopkins caught him with and how Tarver struggles badly late one, the guy is living off his Jones Jnr wins.

I would love to see him in with Briggs or Adamek, could you imagine him shipping right after right from Briggs (who i thought beat Adamek second time round) and the Aussie putting on lots of pressure? Intriguing.

Back to the point....Woods has as good a chance as any in with overrated Tarver.

Still a good fight this one, I think Woods has maybe had a little bit too much credit for the Johnson fight. Most observers don't think Johnson has ever beaten Tarver, and the last time they fought it was pretty comprehensive.

Johnson is good no doubt, but should never have been ranked ahead of Tarver (which many people were doing) based on Tarver's drab showing vs Hopkins. The fighter who deserved the credit was Hopkins for making Tarver look drab.

I've always liked Woods in this one, and its a fight I have been championing for years! (long before I posted here). However, its a good fight and if Woods prevail I will give him more credit than I did for his win over Johnson.

jomothepure wrote:
his fights with Hoye (where we witnessed the excellent "all new" clinton) Gonzalez and Johnson have been tough and honest.

All new?

Or just Rico Hoye was over hyped with no chin as opposed to Woods previous challenges against real champions RJJ and Johnson.

The mere fact Woods was getting yet another shot or anybodys mandatory #1 was pure corruption, Tarver v Johnson was the unification regardless of those clowns at the IBF.

Woods "reign" is pure plastic no matter how "honest" he is.

overhand_right wrote:

jomothepure wrote:
his fights with Hoye (where we witnessed the excellent "all new" clinton) Gonzalez and Johnson have been tough and honest.

All new?

Or just Rico Hoye was over hyped with no chin as opposed to Woods previous challenges against real champions RJJ and Johnson.

The mere fact Woods was getting yet another shot or anybodys mandatory #1 was pure corruption, Tarver v Johnson was the unification regardless of those clowns at the IBF.

Woods "reign" is pure plastic no matter how "honest" he is.

I don't disagree with that. Woods got his title thanks to the strip-happy IBF putting sanctioning fees before world title fights - the Mayweather fiasco being another example. He picked up the belt when Tarver v Johnson was clearly the #1 fight for the division. So he became a token belt holder.

But whilst him getting the belt in the first place may be questionable, I don't think you can necessarily call his reign plastic. With the exception of Adamek, I'd say Woods' opponents overall have been as good as Erdei's or the WBA holders. He has also beaten Johnson. However close the result, however over-the-hill you might say Johnson was, he beat him. If he goes on to beat Tarver, rjj etc, would his reign still be plastic?

steve689 wrote:I would give Woods a fair chance, after some early career hype (all from his own mouth) it has been revealed more than once that Tarver isn't really very good after all and possesses a serious stamina problem. Look at how many right hands Hopkins caught him with and how Tarver struggles badly late one, the guy is living off his Jones Jnr wins.

I would love to see him in with Briggs or Adamek, could you imagine him shipping right after right from Briggs (who i thought beat Adamek second time round) and the Aussie putting on lots of pressure? Intriguing.

Back to the point....Woods has as good a chance as any in with overrated Tarver.

Tarver's a very good fighter, otherwise he wouldn't have beaten a fit Jones in the 2nd fight, avenged a loss to Harding, or beaten Johnson twice in the eyes of most. He fought some pretty good fighters on the way up & beat them, like Chris Johnson, Reggie Johnson, Licoln Carter and Montell Griffin.

definitely not a great fighter, but he made a success of himself, bounce dback from 3 losses, and Jones & Johnson were the same age as him to be fair.



Back in the early 90s, some quality light heavies were getting beaten by great smaller men (McCallum beating Harding, Hearns beating Hill AND Andries, Leonard stopping Lalonde albeit at 168...). Tarver was outclassed by a better Hopkins than we've seen in 3 years, aided no doubt by the move up in weight.

viciousmaussa wrote:

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:Balboas a fraud - conning the public that a LHW Champ is the man at HW. He beat a shot Creed, ducked Lang and made him wait till he was past his prime for his shot, Lang still won but was injured coming into the rematch, Rocky ducked the rubber match with Lang, got a lucky win against Drago who complained off Rockys manager Don King poisoning him. It was Dragos pro-debut and Drago had never went past 3rounds before. He would go onto duck the rematch with Drago

Anyway I actually thought Balboas comeback was dangerous. We all know that gloved fights are far more dangerous than bare fist fights after Rocky 5.

The ROCKY films are the most pathetic, soggy wish fulfilment movies, that are dumb enough to suggest there is a world champion in all of us. Not only that, they're also a bit dodgy in that the white guy has to beat the black man, the Yank has to beat the Russian etc

Can't stand any of them. There are far better boxing films, FAT CITY, THE SET-UP, HARDER THEY FALL, CHAMPION.

I even prefer THE GLADIATOR, the one about the unlicenced boxing shows run by Brian Dennehy, with an early performacne by Cuba Gooding Jr.

The first 2 Rockys were decent films if you take them for what they are and don't expect too much realism, after that it was pure bullshit. But Rocky movies are always good to take the piss out of with boxers mates, girlfriends can't quite understand the piss taking though. I haven't watched many of those movies you mentioned I'll keep my eye out for them.

viciousmaussa wrote:

steve689 wrote:I would give Woods a fair chance, after some early career hype (all from his own mouth) it has been revealed more than once that Tarver isn't really very good after all and possesses a serious stamina problem. Look at how many right hands Hopkins caught him with and how Tarver struggles badly late one, the guy is living off his Jones Jnr wins.

I would love to see him in with Briggs or Adamek, could you imagine him shipping right after right from Briggs (who i thought beat Adamek second time round) and the Aussie putting on lots of pressure? Intriguing.

Back to the point....Woods has as good a chance as any in with overrated Tarver.

Tarver's a very good fighter, otherwise he wouldn't have beaten a fit Jones in the 2nd fight, avenged a loss to Harding, or beaten Johnson twice in the eyes of most. He fought some pretty good fighters on the way up & beat them, like Chris Johnson, Reggie Johnson, Licoln Carter and Montell Griffin.

definitely not a great fighter, but he made a success of himself, bounce dback from 3 losses, and Jones & Johnson were the same age as him to be fair.

Back in the early 90s, some quality light heavies were getting beaten by great smaller men (McCallum beating Harding, Hearns beating Hill AND Andries, Leonard stopping Lalonde albeit at 168...). Tarver was outclassed by a better Hopkins than we've seen in 3 years, aided no doubt by the move up in weight.

Exactly Tarver has got a very good CV with tight skills and thats why Jones had to fight him in the first place. Is Tarver faded from the fighter he was 3years ago? Hes getting on in years now though.

jomothepure wrote: If he goes on to beat Tarver, rjj etc, would his reign still be plastic?

Yes yes YES!!

Tarver is on the way down & no longer The Man, and digging up RJJ from the graveyard to try prove some contrived "improvement"/superiority is ridiculous.

Until he beats Hopkins, or in the absence of said unify the 3 titles, Woods and co will be soon forgotten belt holders & not much more.

overhand_right wrote:

jomothepure wrote: If he goes on to beat Tarver, rjj etc, would his reign still be plastic?

Yes yes YES!!

Tarver is on the way down & no longer The Man, and digging up RJJ from the graveyard to try prove some contrived "improvement"/superiority is ridiculous.

Until he beats Hopkins, or in the absence of said unify the 3 titles, Woods and co will be soon forgotten belt holders & not much more.

There was talk of fighting Kessler, whichs eemed to come to nothing. Clinton really needs to cross swords with someone like Paul Briggs, or at the very least Danny Green.