Antonio Tarver Turns Back the Clock, Smashes Danny Green in Australia
by Scott Christ on Jul 20, 2011 9:09 AM EDT
in Boxing Results and Post-Fight Analysis
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42-year-old Antonio Tarver was absolutely dominant today in Australia, battering Danny Green and stopping him after nine rounds when the corner pulled Green out of the fight. The ninth round had ended with a massive flurry from Tarver, with Green reeling badly and basically out on his feet.
Tarver (29-6, 20 KO) looked fresh and strong at cruiserweight, where he was fighting officially for the first time. The former two-time light heavyweight world champion had taken a pass at the heavyweight division last year, where he was clearly too heavy to fight well, but it looks like the 200-pound limit suits him just fine physically. He was quicker, stronger, and better than Green (31-4, 27 KO), whose brief run of notoriety as a perceived top cruiserweight comes to a rather crashing end with this defeat.
Tarver won the first six rounds of the fight with relative ease, until Green made a charge in the seventh round and hurt Tarver with some good body work. After the seventh round, Tarver looked a little tired in his corner, but got back to business in the eighth and took control of the fight back. When he found an opening in the ninth round, he made it count, and wailed on Green to break the home fighter's will and force him out of the contest.
Does this make Antonio Tarver a true top cruiserweight? That's hard to say. It does make him a top 10 cruiserweight, but Green's wins in the division of Roy Jones Jr, Manny Siaca and Paul Briggs were iffy at best and downright lousy at worst. He did get a legit win over BJ Flores last year, but Tarver just plain took him to school. The difference in class between the two fighters was as evident as it was surprising.
This is Tarver's best win in years, and his best performance since at least the Clinton Woods bout in 2008. I'd even say it was his best performance since 2005, when he defeated Glen Johnson. Tarver was full of confidence today, and Green just couldn't do anything about it. Green, 38, was out of his depth, and the fight played out as a mismatch in Tarver's favor. In all but the seventh round, Green simply had no answer for the American.
The win nets Tarver the IBO cruiserweight title, which is not among the "big four" that are recognized by most, but will allow him to say he's a two-division champion. And for those who watched this fight outside of Australia: You get a gold star, because I think we all watched this on a stream that was simply a webcam pointed at a television.
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Missed it! Dang! Couldn’t figure out the time change, nor find any thread however hoky. But I’m thrilled for Tarver, that’s great, I hope it gets youtubed soon so I can review it.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
He really looked sharp in there outside of that one round, and he got his groove back quickly after. I will also say that I don’t think Green’s injury troubles since the Flores fight were a deciding factor in this one — I think he was just outclassed by a better boxer.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jul 20, 2011 9:22 AM EDT up reply actions
It’s already up. Can I post the link here or is that not allowed?
Bob Arum would promote Lucifer himself if he could put asses in the seats.
I think it’s OK—If you mean Youtube, I fanpost them sometimes.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Amazing to see big guys in a good fight. Amazing to see Tarver so dominant, I felt sorry for Green by round 4.
On my screen, it kept bumping me to Soto-Antillon after the end of the segment—the above is Part 1 of 3, here’s the other two: Tarver vs. Green part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y3Y_KsIiTE
Tarver vs. Green part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRMyQUP_uV0
I thought Beavis got loose in my pc when the water started rising.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Yeah YouTube links are always allowed.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jul 20, 2011 7:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah I had pretty much the same reaction. Watching him operate the way he did today just felt good. He backed it up.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jul 20, 2011 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions
Ted,
I’ve never quite understood why you thought so highly of Green. I recall you had him as the best Aussie maybe a year ago, in front of Kat.
I’m surprised and happy for Tarver, too. But I’ve never thought of Green as anything all that special.
"While he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones." J. Sutherland.
Happy for tarver.. Hopefully video will pop up somewhere
"After this, I'm gonna kick Bob Arum's ass."
-George Lopez
by Eddie Gonzalez on Jul 20, 2011 10:17 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Damn.
I know Tarver had been really going heavy on Twitter about how hard he’s been training with the sparring videos etc, but I just figured the whole thing was staged to build some interest in the fight or to worry Green or whatever. Sheesh, never expected this result, but I am delighted for Antonio, who’s a true gent and someone with a real love and respect for the fighting game.
"Occasionally, there is a boxing match that, in its demonstration of skill, courage, intelligence, hope, seems to redeem the sport - almost. Perhaps boxing has always been a sport in crisis, a sport of crisis."
Too bad we won't get to see Austin Trout do the same thing to Anthony Mundine
Good for Tarver though. If the gulf in class was that wide, it certainly makes him legitimate. Tarver may need to become a road warrior at cruiserweight though, and stylistically, I see him having problems with guys like Cunningham, Huck, Lebedev and Ross. A fight with someone like Giacobbe Fragomeni would make a lot of sense though, if someone will pay for it. And honestly, I wouldn’t completely write him off against any of the guys I mentioned above either. I just feel like Ross is basically a fresher version of Tarver, same for Cunningham (only he’s an orthodox fighter), and I’m just not sure how well he’d do against the bullying fighters, as he’s folded under pressure in the past.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
The one rounds of success Green did have leads me to believe Huck or Lebedev would break Tarver down, but he could outbox either of them if he’s in good shape.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jul 20, 2011 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions
Plus, no strong feelings about the man, but I’m not heartbroken Danny Green got creamed. Time somebody did.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
You beat a legend…
"Occasionally, there is a boxing match that, in its demonstration of skill, courage, intelligence, hope, seems to redeem the sport - almost. Perhaps boxing has always been a sport in crisis, a sport of crisis."
by Oli Goldstein on Jul 20, 2011 11:55 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
What's next for Danny?
Why dont we ever see the headline "Psychic
wins lottery" in the newspapers?
I would not be shocked by a retirement or a Jones rematch.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jul 20, 2011 7:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Yiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wonderfull!!
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Tarver vs haye
210 catch weight
by Snipes_allday on Jul 20, 2011 2:10 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
The Tarver in the Rnd 9 video above would slaughter Haye. Haye’s not that good.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Slaughter is a strong word....
Haye has way way way more power than green, tarver would fight with a different game plan…he could maybe take a decision on haye, I’ll give him that
by Snipes_allday on Jul 20, 2011 4:05 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
This might be premature, but do you think if Adamek loses to Klitschko will he want to go back down to cruiserweight? Tarver might be the biggest fight at 200 lbs for him.
Tarver was comfortable fighting at an old man pace against another old guy that’s never been all that skilled… but I didn’t see any encouraging signs for how he’d fare in a physical fight against a good natural cruiser (not a guy that did his best work at 168). The one time Green fought with a little fire and managed to mount an attack – he had Tarver in a bit of distress. That one round (as Scott mentioned above) left me feeling that the fight as a whole was a bit of a mirage in terms of what Tarver really has left.
TheBoxingBulletin.com
I just watched the fight,
thanks to Apprentice, and I agree with you. After the first two rounds, which were just terrible, it got interesting, and Tarver showed flashes here and there of speed, sharpness, and accuracy. And I don’t doubt that the times he nailed Green during those first few rounds really made the latter think about things. Tarver was particularly good in the 6th.
But I don’t think Tarver was very impressive in the long run, and I think Green, who doesn’t seem to me to fight with the best style for him, wasn’t the best test for assessing how much of a future Tarver has.
Green had his moments too, but he’s just not a distance boxer, at least not against someone like Tarver. From what I can see, he would need to get much closer, and stop being so tentative and reactive, and there were spots where he initiated exchanges, but maybe he doesn’t really have the chin for this, and so he just seemed hesitant.
It was a nice fight, but I don’t think it means much for Tarver beyond a couple of more fights.
I was just amazed to read that, don’t know why I didn’t know it, except I never paid much attention to him really. On the other hand Tarver’s 42, so it’s not like he was some 25 yr. old beating up a senior citizen.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Yeah, Antonio just looks like he’s 25-30. Which he really does in the face. That fellow has some great skin care.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jul 20, 2011 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions
It was a take on a really old tag line
“Watching Antonio Tarver so you don’t have to”
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Thanks for putting up the links.
Tarver looked good in there with decent handspeed.
Not sure about the commentary though, sounded like they were commentating on knitting or snail racing, or something almost as exciting. :)
Holy fucking shit! I guess that sparring footage we saw where Tarver looked terrible was meant to deceive. Tarver looked better than he has in a long time. He seems to do better when people underestimate him a la RJJ. He had Danny Green doing a chicken dance at the end of that 9th round. Cruiserweight is weak. I’d love to see him take out Marco Huck
That Fight Made My Fistic Year
Danny Green is the greatest fraud ever . Three times world boxing champion so the spiel goes. Tarver was the first fighter Green has faced since Mundine who wasnt a has been or a never was. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=51748&cat=boxer . BJ FLores was a clubfighter who was forced to fight at 190 instead of 200 pounds when he faced Green. Paul Briggs was a retired ex light heavyweight who was known to have severe medical issues. Manny Sciaca had fought at 159 pounds his previous fight to the Green farce and he only had 3 fights in the 5 years prior including a 7th round stoppage loss at the hands of Mikkel Kessler. Greens previous opponent was Roy Jones who had lost 4 of his previous 9 fights included devastating KO losses to Tarver and a rout against Glenn Johnson. Green won the IBO Cruiserweight title before the Jones fight in a bizarre fight at 180 pounds against another mediocre fighter , Julio Cesar Dominguez. Green’s whole career has been based on mismatches , fighting Mundine’s retreads and appealing to the low brow , bogan( chav ) element of Australian society . As much as I dislike Mundine he has a better record of opposition than Green . I knew if Tarver was fair dinkum he would stop Green . Danny is inept defensively and has two very slow left feet. He also lacks experience in competitive fights. You don’t learn anything blowing away midgets and stiffs. He looked shellshocked and traumatised after the end of the 9th round. It was the first time Danny’s actually been hurt badly. Which in a way is emblematic of modern boxing . A so called 3 time world champion who has never been in a hard fight and never hurt. Cudos to old Tarver , the kind of fighter who nobody ( except my man BHops ) has ever looked good against. Antonio would be a real mongrel to fight at his best at 175. He is huge at the weight , is a very well schooled boxer. He gives you nothing and you cant attack him with any venom because he owns that knockout southpaw left cross – uppercut. Hes the kind of fighter you would happily win an ugly points nod against and never fight again . Cheers All , a most enjoyable result!
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