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didn’t dodge them entirely. “I don’t really want to get into that,” he said, referring to the long wait. “I made it now. I don’t know, bro. It’s just timing sometimes. … When I put on the gloves, I didn’t think about the ending. I just thought about the work that needed to be done. Although, yeah, I thought I would get the call eventually.” The drug tests? Make of his comments what you will. “I’m human,” he said. “I made a mistake, but I didn’t make two mistakes. … I made one mistake. I’m never going to make the same mistake twice. Does that answer the question? [Cunningham] was my last fight. It was bittersweet. I feel like I could’ve accomplished a lot more, but it wasn’t to be. “I’m a Hall of Famer today. That’s all that matters.” Tarver still dreamed big at the end. He had hoped to break George Foreman’s record of winning the heavyweight championship at 45, the age at which “Big George” knocked out Michael Moorer to win the IBF and WBA belts in 1994. Had Tarver turned that trick, he almost certainly would’ve landed in the Hall of Fame sooner. However, he abandoned that notion after the second drug infraction and walked away from the sport. In the end, the Hall of Fame voters were convinced that he did enough. A record of 31-6-1 (22 KOs), the Olympic medal, the title reigns, convincing victories in rematches with Harding and Johnson, his longevity (18 years in spite of the late start) and, of course, the trilogy with his great rival. His impressive resume supports the words Jones used to describe him: “pretty great.” “I can truly say, bro, that I’m the most complete fighter of all time,” Tarver said in a moment of sincere immodesty. “I could do it all in the ring. I didn’t have no weaknesses. … I could fight outside, I could fight inside. I could take a punch. I was a complete fighter at all times.”
Eric Harding was punished heavily in another revenge mission for Tarver.
Tarver’s ability to transform himself from an orthodox fighter early in his career to a dominating southpaw was remarkable. He even called Tarver “pretty much a great fighter.” At the same time, Jones still says the weight loss after the Ruiz fight left him depleted. “What gave me trouble [against Tarver]? I had to lose 25 pounds,” Jones said. “He was a good puncher with an awkward style, but he really was no different from anyone else. I just didn’t have the energy to get it done. I lost 25 pounds of muscle. Any southpaw I would’ve fought would’ve given me trouble. “I don’t think I was the same after [the weight loss]. My body wasn’t the same.” Tarver’s reaction to that? Not surprising.
2012 and 2015, a period in which he endured financial problems – dominated the last stage of his career. He tested positive for an anabolic steroid after a draw with Lateef Kayode in a cruiserweight fight, which resulted in a one-year suspension and apparently played a role in ending his broadcasting role with Showtime. And synthetic testosterone was found in his system for a draw with Steve Cunningham in a heavyweight bout, Tarver’s last outing. He was 43 and 46 in those fights, respectively. McGirt, who worked with Tarver for the Kayode fight on one week’s notice, believes in his protege’s innocence to this day. “Me, myself, knowing him, I can’t see him doing it,” he said. “I personally think somebody put something in his water. He didn’t need that to fight these
“When you have the machine behind you, they can make you believe something that ain’t true,” he said. “You know the media is the most powerful thing in the world when they tell a story. Roy Jones hasn’t accepted his ass-whooping yet, and the media won’t let him.” Tarver would fight 12 more times after his second victory over Jones, going 7-3-1 (with one no-contest). That included the worst loss of his career, a near-shutout against the great Bernard Hopkins in 2006, and a one-sided decision over Clinton Woods to win a major title for the last time in 2008. However, two failed drug tests – in
The final stretch of Tarver’s career included a ninth-round stoppage of Danny Green at cruiserweight.
guys. He was too good of a fighter. … I told him, ‘Watch the people around you. You gotta watch them.’ “He took too much pride in his career. Somebody gave him something, and he came up positive.” Many presume that Tarver was passed over for the Hall of Fame for so long because of the failed tests, although Roy Jones has a different take. “I don’t think it was a drug thing,” he said. “They go by a lot of criteria. I ran a decade, so I went in on the first
ballot. It’s not the same as guys who do some great things. Sometimes it takes a while longer.” Tarver was asked directly about the delay and the positive drug tests. He didn’t want to speak in detail about either subject but, to his credit, he
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