Cocky Tarver set for Jones

Dean Juipe

Thursday, May 6, 2004 | 9:16 a.m.

It's a bravado that approaches the level of chest thumping. It's overwhelming.

It's Antonio Tarver telling anyone who will listen how he got robbed Nov. 8 and how he will set the record straight when he fights Roy Jones Jr. again, May 15 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

"I know in my heart of hearts I can beat Roy Jones, but in his heart of hearts he's not sure he can beat me," Tarver said as both he and Jones participated in conference calls this week. "If we get a level playing field, he can't beat me."

Tarver blames the assigned judges for not keeping the playing field level in their first fight, which Jones won by majority decision.

He also promises to take matters into his own hands for the rematch.

"I'm going to control my own destiny and make it happen," he said. "This will not go 12 (rounds). I'm determined to get Roy Jones out of there."

Jones scoffs at Tarver's brashness, going so far as to imply he almost feels sorry for his would-be nemesis.

"I can't get mad because the dude runs his mouth," Jones said Wednesday. "I don't hate the dude.

"It's almost like he admires me so much that he wants to beat me. How can I get mad at that person?

"He thinks the world of me."

Oh yeah?

"I made the guy look average in the ring," Tarver said of their earlier fight. "I threw beautiful combinations and backed the guy up. He resorted to slapping me to the body because he had no clue.

"Desperation came upon Roy Jones but it never came upon me. I felt I had complete control of the fight.

"My game plan worked beautifully. People thought of Jones like he was Superman and now they question whether he's over the hill.

"It was coming too easy for me; he couldn't touch me.

"It takes a great fighter to do that."

And Tarver ranks himself among the very best fighters in the sport today.

"Roy Jones has company at the top," he said. "People right now look at me as the man who put it on Roy Jones.

"I told everyone (before the first fight) that I'm the only one gifted and talented enough to make it happen and this time I'm going to finish the job.

"I just happen to match Roy Jones speed for speed, skill for skill -- any way you want to measure it.

"I'm one step away from being considered the best in the world."

Tarver, 35, is 21-2 with 17 knockouts..

Jones, also 35, is 49-1 with 38 KOs and is the World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion.

Jones is a minus 550 betting favorite in sports books in Las Vegas. Tarver is a plus 400.

Jones maintains the disappointment of not landing a fight with Mike Tyson affected his performance in the first fight with Tarver, as did the fact he had to lose weight and overcome an abscessed tooth.

"He might as well have thrown a hangnail in there," Tarver said derogatorily, adding that he had to overcome a problem with his left arm that required a chiropractor two weeks before the fight.

"That was a serious reason to pull out of the fight," he said. "But did I mention that to anybody? No I didn't."

Training in Vero Beach, Fla., Tarver said "I feel real good. I'm geared up. I have a grueling strength and conditioning program."

A southpaw who avenged the earlier loss on his record, to Eric Harding, Tarver is driven by revenge and the belief that beating Jones will bring him the recognition he has long deserved.

"If the first time wasn't good enough, we're going to make sure whatever we do this time will be good enough," he said. "It's mind-boggling to me that people have not looked at my career as a whole.

"I'm as talented, as gifted as anyone but the people don't want to see me for who I am. I'm one of the most underrated fighters of all time yet they still fail to realize my expertise.

"I don't have anything to prove but I'm going to whip his a-- in royal fashion."

In reviewing tapes of their first fight, Tarver believes he won at least seven of the 12 rounds. Jones sees the same tapes and gives himself eight of the 12.

"Shows you how he got addicted to cocaine," Jones said of Tarver and his alleged former drug use. "He makes himself believe something that isn't true. Tarver did not win the last fight."

Tarver says he did while admitting his past habits damaged his career.

"I didn't train properly or eat properly and I tore my body up," he said of his earlier lifestyle. "I didn't have the proper commitment (and) to be defeated by somebody (Harding) not on a level with me was a tough pill to swallow.

"But I've changed (and) now I just want people to be fair to me. Reward me for my work, that's all I'm saying."

If there is to be a greater reward he's going to have to win this fight against Jones, who is generally regarded as the finest fighter in the world today.

"Both of our careers are going to be defined by this next fight," Tarver said. "I gained a lot (in defeat) and I took the man's heart.

"They gave the wrong man a second chance. He's got a nightmare on his hands."