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Rejuvenated Antonio Tarver
Calls Out David Haye
All five-time world champion Antonio "Magic Man" Tarver
(31-6, 22 KOs) wants for Christmas is a signed contract to
fight former two-division world champion David Haye (26-2,
24 KOs), ideally, during the first-quarter of 2015.
Tarver had been sending direct tweets for the past six
months to Haye, who hasn't fought in more than two years,
without receiving a response. Coming off last week's
impressive seventh-round knockout of veteran Johnathan Banks
(29-3-1, 19 KOs), Tarver has taken off the proverbial gloves
and he is now publically calling out Haye, who insists, once
again, that he is coming out of retirement.
"In a perfect world I will be fighting Haye early next
year," Tarver said. "He keeps insisting that he's the
second-biggest name in the heavyweight division I need him
to be my set-up guy to beat in order for me to get a world
title shot against Wladimir Klitschko. Haye has one-punch
knockout ability and he's aggressive. Once I beat him,
though, I want Klitschko. I will come to England and
knockout Haye, knock him out cold. I'm 46 and I don't want
to go through 12 guys like (Chris) Arreola, (Eddie) Chambers
or (Steve) Cunningham to get Klitschko. He's waiting for me
to lose so he doesn't have to fight me. I'm calling out Haye
to get Klitschko. He talks a lot but the boxing world will
see if Haye's serious about fighting again. Tarver vs. Haye
is a huge fight in London.
"I'm a star and I want to get paid. None of these cats know
how to really promote a fight like Antonio Tarver. I'd
prefer to fight Haye in Las Vegas but I'll come to England
to KO his ass! I have the most powerful adviser in boxing,
Al Haymon, and I've told him I want Haye next. If Haye
announces he's coming out of retirement to fight somebody
else, I'll be at that press conference to embarrass him, the
same way I had to get my (Roy) Jones (Jr.) fight. I'm a
throw-back fighter who can make a pay-per-view bonanza
fighting Klitschko and the way to get that fight is by
knocking out Haye. I doubt he'll fight me because he knows
he can't beat me. I want David Haye in the UK!
"No heavyweight can outbox me. They will have to knock me
out to beat me and nobody's ever done that. I will become
the oldest world heavyweight champion in boxing history to
cement my legacy. I'm coming for Klitschko after I KO Haye.
I'm going to shoot a real-life Rocky movie with me chopping
down Klitschko."
Tarver also had some terse words for critics who complained
during and after his recent fight that Banks was a weak
opponent and their fight was a snoozer until the final
round.
"I hit him with a quick 1-2 and then he wouldn't stand in
front of me because he felt my speed and power early,"
Tarver explained. "He didn't want to get hit with my
counter-punches. I wish he had opened up and fought but he
didn't exchange blows. Boxing is the art of self-defense but
I don't see fighters today using their heads. Boxing is
chess not checkers. I can box but, when I pick that lock
like I did in the seventh round, I can knockout any
heavyweight in the world. I don't think I was hit with one
good punch. My reflexes and timing, even at 46, are second
to none."
Tarver initially suffered a now-fully-healed fractured thumb
to his left hand, closer to the wrist, postponing the
original September 29th fight date versus Banks. Tarver
remained in the gym and put in the proper time and effort to
stop Banks.
"We created tough sparring sessions to prepare him for
Banks," Tarver's head trainer Orlando Cuellar commented. "We
knew Banks was dangerous and that he could crack. We just
kept training and Antonio had to overcome a lot of physical
obstacles during camp. He just kept going. He tried to do
the impossible and did it. He showed a lot of movement, the
ability to explode, and tremendous ring generalship. He sure
didn't look 46 the way he cracked Banks. And he'll be
50-percent better in his next fight.
"Antonio showed his dedication to improve in the gym. We had
a good game plan but he had to do everything he worked on in
the fight. His timing was good and he won every round. Banks
came out planning to jump on Antonio but he tasted his power
in the first 30 seconds and he then didn't want any part of
it. He honestly exceeded what I expected and I didn't
realize how good a finisher he is."
If Santa Claus delivers a contract for him to fight Haye, he
may as well give Tarver another display case, as well, to
store the world heavyweight title belt Antonio plans to
capture in 2015.
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