14.02.07 – By James Slater: A fight between reigning IBF light heavyweight champion Clinton Woods and former Ring magazine world 175 pound ruler Antonio Tarver has been mooted for some time now. Indeed Tarver, last seen either losing widely on points to that magazine’s current champ, Bernard Hopkins, or winning a much closer decision over the fictional Rocky Balboa, has said he wants a fight with the Sheffield man. At the moment actually rated above the IBF boss in most independent rankings, due to his great wins over Roy Jones and Glen Johnson, Tarver is eager to once again strap a belt around his waist, as well as return to winning ways..
“The Magic Man” looked anything but magical last June when he was shut-out by B-Hop. But now, after apparently getting back into high energy training fuelled by a returned hunger and desire, Antonio is on the hunt for his next opponent. As yet still in talking stages only, A Woods-Tarver showdown would be a very significant fight in the light heavyweight ranks. With Bernard Hopkins engaging in a catch-weight fight with Winky Wright (and possibly retiring again after what Winky promises will be a loss for the Philly legend) Woods Vs. Tarver just might be a fight that will tell us who is the very best in the world today at 175.
Clinton, for his part, has wanted a fight with Tarver for some time. “I’d love that fight,” he told this writer over the phone late last year. “I’d be very, very confident of winning that fight.” Upon asking him whether or not he thought he’d win by KO, Clinton replied, “Maybe, maybe not. But I know I’d win.” With that kind of confidence, the kind that comes to a fighter only after he becomes world champ, Woods would be some hard opponent for Tarver – as good as he is. Or was. And that’s the point, is Antonio past it? Though he’s only a few years older than the man who’s just undergone successful surgery on his oft troublesome left arm, Tarver hasn’t looked great in quite a while. He basically sucked in the Hopkins fight, while before that he boxed a snoozer in his rubber-match with Jones. You have to go back almost two years – to the second fight with Glen Johnson – to find a good performance from Antonio. While Woods on the other hand, has arguably been boxing his best ever in his last two or three fights. Beating the teak-tough “Road Warrior” in Johnson was a fine achievement, as was Woods’ dominating decision win over Julio Gonzalez before that.
So, can he beat Tarver? And if he does will he get his wish of seeing himself ranked at number one on the Ring’s ratings page at light heavyweight? ” I wanted to be the best light heavyweight in the world,” he told me last year, “And I think I got that by beating Johnson. The next thing I want is the Ring belt. I think it’ll be hard getting it though, I know that.” And though a win over Tarver won’t get him the trophy he so craves, it will, surely, get him a huge step closer to being accepted as the very best in his weight class – if he isn’t perceived as such by many already.
Beating the Antonio Tarver that showed up last June against “The Executioner” is something well within the capabilities of Sheffield’s steely IBF champ. Whether or not that will be the Antonio Clinton faces, however, is another matter. The ball is in “The Magic Man’s” court.