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Rockin’ & Rollin’ From MemphisTarver/Johnson II Lives Up To The City Reputation!
By Will
"The Thrill" Trillo
In a rematch of last years split decision brawl that went in the favor of Glen Johnson (42-10-2, 28 KO's), these fighters stepped into the ring and gave is 12 rounds of action that they both can be proud to be a part of.
From the outset it was obvious that Tarver was on a mission and that he had a specific game plan in place and from the first round Glen Johnson knew that he was going to have his work cut out for him tonight. But that’s nothing new for the Road Warrior, as most of his fights have been tough and hard fought in both victory and defeat.
In my eyes, Johnson clearly took round 2 as he rocked Tarver with some nice shots, but all three judges scored #2 for Tarver, which is not the only disparity I found in the official scorecard, and that is why we posted it up on our site. I have no real problem with the final tally, but as you review the scorecard you will note that all three judges took entirely different roads to come to their conclusion. Click Here To View Official Scorecard
In defense of the judges varying tallies, this fight was not easy to score, do you give the rounds to the fighter who kept coming forward, looking to press the fight and hop into the trenches, or do you give it to the fighter who was scoring from the outside, trying to keep the fight from turning into slugfest?
The punch stats clearly showed that Tarver was landing with more effective blows, but at the same time, Johnson was getting in with some nice body work that had Tarver hurt at times and was nullifying his game plan. So the battle lines where drawn and this one had enough changes in the tide to keep it interesting for fans of both men.
As the fight got into the latter rounds, Johnson’s corner had no problem telling their fighter that he was falling behind and he needed to drop Tarver to get back into this one. Even when the fight seemed to be too far out of his reach to score a decision, neither Johnson nor his corner decided to quit because it would be impossible for him to win. Over the past weeks we have seen fighters succumb to seemingly insurmountable odds, but that was not to be in this one as Johnson was determined to fight on and give it everything he had. In doing so he got himself back into the fight and made Antonio earn his hard-fought victory. No quitting on the stool in this one, just 12 rounds of boxing that was a breath of fresh air to all who had witnessed this war.
After the fight both men acknowledged their opponents for their toughness and there were no excuses thrown around like we have seen in recent weeks. Both men should be commended for this one. The prospect of a rubber match is already anticipated and I for one can’t wait to see what will be in store for us on the next go around!
In the first bout televised by HBO, Ike Quartey (now 36-2-1, 30 KO's) got off the deck to take a unanimous decision over the game Verno Phillips (38-11-1, 20 KO's . The two things that stand out in my mind are as follows: 1.Quartey’s chin is still suspect. 2. It is not clear if he brought his punch with him in his move up in weight.
With that said, it will be interesting to say if he can get into legitimate title contention now that he steps into a division with the likes of Kassim Ouma and Champion Winky Wright .
Final tally
for Quartey’s victory read
95-94, 95-94,
and 96-93.
The non-televised bouts read this way:
Light Heavyweight Ann Wolfe TKO's Marsha Valley in 6 Time: 1:17 IBA Light Heavyweight Title
Heavyweight Vincent Maddalone TKO's Dennis McKinney in 4 Time: 2:06 Corner Stoppage
Middleweight Andre Ward TKO's Ben Aragon in 3 Time: 0:59
Light Welterweight Lakva Sim TKO's Shawn Simmons in 2 Time: 1:15
Light Welterweight Lamont Peterson TKO's John Frazier in 1 Fraizer down 3 times
Light Welterweight Anthony Peterson KO's Anthony Middlebrooks in 1 Time: 0:28
Cruiserweight Donnell Wiggins TKO's Norman Johnson in 3 Time: 1:19 Johnson down twice
Heavyweight Adam Richards TKO's Tyrone Muex in 1
Time: 1:46
Muex down twice
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