Ref aims to keep Jones, Tarver clean

Dean Juipe

Monday, Nov. 3, 2003 | 9:53 a.m.

Never known for his ability to sell tickets, Roy Jones Jr. undermined the marketability of his Saturday fight with Antonio Tarver at Mandalay Bay by skipping a scheduled conference call late last week.

The fight, for Tarver's World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation light heavyweight championships, nonetheless proceeds in a scaled-back arena with tickets priced from $50 to $600. It will also be available on pay-per-view.

Tarver, for his part, says he's ready to go and so is the referee assigned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

"I'll bring my 'A' game and then some," said the referee, Kenny Bayless of Las Vegas. "I have to make sure their emotions don't become a part of the fight."

Jones and Tarver have had a mutually antagonistic past, and Tarver has added to the tension with his outspokenness in recent weeks. He feels he will be the man to beat "The Man" and become a superstar in the process.

"He's never done anything in the ring I haven't seen," Tarver said. "He has great talent and ability, but so do I.

"I'm battle tested. I've beaten everyone I'm supposed to beat outside of Roy -- and I'm about to get that chance.

"We're going to see what he's made of. I'm going to lay it on the line."

Tarver, a southpaw, is 21-1 with 17 knockouts.

Jones is 48-1 with 38 KOs and is generally regarded as the finest fighter in the world. But this is only his fifth fight in Las Vegas, in large part because his safety-first style hinders his drawing power.

Jones is a minus 950 betting favorite, with Tarver a plus 650.

Bayless says he has been keeping tabs of the remarks the fighters have directed toward one another, and that he will continue to monitor their comments in the days leading up to the fight.

"I plan all week to keep on eye on the papers and Internet to see if there's any animosity they might bring," he said. "If there is, when I meet with them (in their separate dressing rooms) before the fight I'm going to tell them 'All the hoopla is over -- Don't put me in a position where I have to penalize you.' "

He's hoping Jones' professionalism within the ring will surface and that Tarver will also fight a clean fight.

"Roy has been around too long to fall for some of the stuff that's been said or to turn this into a street fight," Bayless said. "But I realize there's some of that element here. There's a feud between them and it's a big fight for Antonio."