Jones aims to stay at the top

Dean Juipe

Thursday, May 13, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

Boxing's reigning pound-for-pound champion neither cares much for the distinction nor prefers to comment on it, yet it's a factor anytime Roy Jones Jr. steps into the ring.

If you're fighting Jones it gives you the opportunity to fight the best.

"My personal opinion is that he's going to have a place in history," said Jones' trainer, Alton Merkerson. "He definitely holds a spot with the greatest fighters ever."

But Antonio Tarver, who's fighting Jones at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday, believes Jones' reputation is at least partly the result of the media's infatuation with him.

"The purists and the media will be the last to be convinced," said Tarver, who feels as if he has already defeated Jones even though the judges' verdict went against him when they fought Nov. 8 at the same site. "They don't want to be told they're wrong about their pound-for-pound champion.

"It's all opinionated."

Jones, 35, is 49-1 with 38 knockouts and his only certifiable loss was by disqualification to Montell Griffin seven years ago. Jones erased the sting of that loss by knocking out Griffin in the first round of their 1997 rematch.

Now he gets a rematch against Tarver, largely the result of public opinion that their first fight left plenty yet to resolve.

"These guys don't like each other," promoter Don King said Wednesday of Jones and Tarver. "It's vintage hostility."

King was left to comment on Jones when the star attraction -- or "the black Superman," as King called him -- limited his presence at the final prefight press conference to a bare minimum, arriving late and ducking out for a break as it droned on.

"It's one of the idiosyncrasies he has," King said of Jones' reluctance to willingly come forward and be more outgoing when he's involved in a fight. But King handled the burden graciously, saying "it forces me to do more with less.

"He may not help (the promotion) along the way but he's a great fighter."

Tarver feels he's just as good, however.

"I think Roy and I are the two best in the world," he said. "But everyone should look to see what's happening right before their eyes.

"I'm going to take what he's got."

Jones responds by saying he accepted the rematch and the challenge to his World Boxing Council light heavyweight title because he wants to eliminate Tarver once and for all.

"My fans want me to shut this boy's mouth," Jones said. "He couldn't beat me when I wasn't on my day and he definitely can't beat me when I am on my day."

Tarver, also 35, is 21-2 with 17 KOs. Although he and Jones are both from Florida and fought as 13-year-olds, he neither admires nor feels intimidated by his more esteemed rival.

"I respect the man but we don't get along," Tarver said. "But he doesn't bother me, even with his bogus excuses.

"I'm blessed. I can't control what he does."

Tarver feels Jones relied on excuses to explain the result of their earlier fight, as Jones said he was fatigued from losing weight and suffering with an abscessed tooth. Jones nonetheless won the fight by majority decision and retained his spot atop the Sun's pound-for-pound listings.

For this rendition of those listings, Jones is followed by these exceptional fighters: Floyd Mayweather Jr.; Erik Morales; Acelino Freitas; Bernard Hopkins; Oscar De La Hoya; Winky Wright; Kostya Tszyu; Cory Spinks; and James Toney. Wright and Spinks are newcomers to the list since it was last updated in March.

The combined record of the men in the top 10 is 417-17-4.

Jones is being paid $6,375,000 for this fight with Tarver and is a minus 550 betting favorite in the sports book at Mandalay Bay.

Tarver will receive $2,075,000 for the fight and is a plus 375 underdog.

It's minus 140 that the fight goes its fully scheduled 12 rounds and plus 110 that it won't.

Bettors interested in taking Jones by decision face odds of 1-1, while Jones by knockout is up as a proposition bet at 7-5.

Tarver by decision is 6-1 and Tarver by knockout is 7-1.

A crowd of around 8,000 is expected for an arena scaled to 11,500.

"This is going down as a historical moment in boxing," Tarver said, implying that not only a great fight is at hand but that he's about to crack the pound-for-pound rankings himself if not move to the top of the list.

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