By James Slater: It’s official: Australia’s Danny Green will defend his IBO cruiserweight title against former light-heavyweight ruler Antonio Tarver on July 20th. A press conference yesterday in Australia announced how the fight will go ahead in Sydney.
38-year-old Green considered retiring from the sport a few months back, after he had to have a very serious operation that removed his appendix and a large abscess in his stomach. But now, five months on from his last fight – a points win over the previously unbeaten B.J Flores – “The Green Machine” is feeling great and relishing the challenge of “The Magic Man.”
As fans know, 42-year-old Tarver made his heavyweight debut a while back, when he won a decision over Nagy Aguilera. The move to heavyweight came partly because the Green fight seemed out of reach. But now, with the 200-pound title match on, it seems we will not get to see how far Tarver could have gone against the big men of the sport. The fight with Green is an intriguing fight though.
Will Green be as strong and as fit after the serious op he had? How will dropping back down from the low 220s affect Tarver?
Both guys are anticipating an exciting fight, and they respect one another.
“Antonio Tarver has been a dominant force in the light heavyweight and heavyweight division for more than a decade and has fought the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Glen Johnson, Chad Dawson and Roy Jones Junior,” Green is quoted as saying by Fightnews.com “He’s a big guy with an impressive knockout ratio and I’m not changing my style so I think fans are in for one hell of a show.”
Tarver responded with his own comments:
“Danny is a knockout specialist, but he has to remember that I was the first person to knock out Roy Jones Junior way back in 2005,” he said. “A lot of people over here underestimate Danny, but you can all rest assured that come July I’m not only going to finish Danny Green but I’m gonna put on a show you won’t forget.”
Sure to be a big deal in Australia, Green-Tarver will almost certainly get T.V coverage in the States also. But who will win?
Green, 31-3(27) has never been stopped and he has not lost since way back in 2006. Also, as experienced as he is, he is not going to be troubled by Tarver’s southpaw stance. Looking good last time out (in November) against the highly ranked Flores, Green looked to have more left than did Tarver in his most recent outing. Then again, Tarver, 28-6(19) was having his first fight in a new weight class when he last boxed (in October).
Tarver also has never been halted, and it’s a good bet we can expect a long, possibly hard fight in July. Green, boxing at home, would be the strong pick to win, were it not for the major surgery he had to undergo. That operation may have taken a lot out of the former super-middleweight and light-heavyweight titlist. But has Tarver, who hasn’t won a big fight since 2008, got enough left to be able to capitalise?
The two men who have both scored quick wins over Jones Junior are pretty evenly matched in height and reach, and with Green just a few years younger this one is a tough fight to call. I go for Green to win a close decision.