Antonio Tarver, age 46, will face Johnathon Banks this Thursday night in a heavyweight
bout. Tarver has not fought in over a year.
"I'm not concerned with rust," says Tarver. "If I'm rusty, it will only be until I'm hit. I've been trying to wear off ring rust with intelligent sparring but that's not like getting reps of a fight."
Tarver still believes he can make waves in the heavyweight division, where he is 2-0 albeit against no hopers like Nagy Aguilera and Mike Sheppard.
"I have to beat a solid heavyweight with power like Banks to get where I want to be. I will become the oldest world heavyweight champion in boxing history! He will be surprised by a lot of what I bring into the ring."
"I can honestly say Antonio hasn't looked rusty," Tarver's trainer Orlando Cuellar said. "but working in the gym and actual fighting are two different things, and we really won't really know until this week's fight. Antonio has always told me that he's not a good gym fighter but that once the bell rings for the first round, he's a great fighter."
"With our experience, his as a fighter and me as a trainer, I expect nothing less than the best from Antonio. It'll be much easier for both of us, training-wise, for his next fight."
Banks has only dabbled in boxing since taking over as Klitschko's trainer and hasn't fought since June of 2013 when he was decisioned by Seth Mitchell.
"Every fight is independent in itself," Tarver says about the fight. "So I can't say I've fought anybody like Banks. I have fought a lot of guys with power who know how to box. Everybody has two hands and two feet but he can only use one hand at a time. I simplify things. I will be in my best shape and I won't be surprised by whatever he brings into the ring."
This week's (December 7th-13th) FREEBIE with any purchase from the website are TWO documentaries. The first is “ROBBED” a short doc on the protests that took place outside Yankee Stadium during the third Ali-Norton fight. The footage goes back and forth between the fight and demonstrations taking place outside the stadium. The other free doc this week is “ZOOM ZOOM,” a British produced documentary which looks back on the career of Azumah Nelson
UPDATED SETS ON HISTORICAL FIGHTERS
ALEXIS ARGUELLO – Fair quality early footage of bout with Rigoberto Riasco
JOEY GIARDELLO – Added fights with Rubin Carter, Gil Turner & Holly Mims
JAMES “Hard Rock” GREEN – Early fight with John Molander added
LARRY HOLMES – Rare fight with Roy “Tiger” Williams added
RUBEN OLIVARES – Bouts with Ignacio Madrid and Jose Cervantes added
RAFAEL RUELAS – Bout with Tomas Barrientes added
RICHIE SANDOVAL – Bout with Javier Barranjas added
JOHN H STRACEY – Bout with Joe Yekkini added
PINKLON THOMAS – Added bout with Mike “Bounty” Hunter
MIKE AYALA – Added in bout with Terry Crowley
PAULIE AYALA – Added in bouts with Thai Condo and amateur fight with Sergio Reyes
NIGEL BENN – Added in rare bout with David Noel
TREVOR BERBICK – Added in bout with David Bey
HILMER KENTY – Rare fight with Chris Fernandez added
SAOUL MAMBY – Ageless one's fight with John Meekins
BARRY MCGUIGAN – Added in bout with Lavon McGowan
TOMMY MORRISON – Amateur fight with John Bray, last fights with Matt Weishaar & Corey Williams, plus bout with 7-foot Marcellus Brown. Also including brief documentary on Morrison called “Still Standing”.
UPDATED SETS ON CURRENT FIGHTERS
DANIEL GEALE – Bout with Jarrod Fletcher included
DAVID LEMIEUX – Canadian power hitter impresses with demolition of Gabe Rosado
JEAN PASCAL – Controversial ending with Roberto Bolonti
NEW SETS ON HISTORICAL FIGHTERS
MARK KAYLOR – Popular British middleweight failed against the elite
ROBERT “Pee Wee” RUCKER – Macho Camacho's stablemate against Willie “Fireball” Rodriguez
FEMALE FIGHTERS
CECILIA BRAEKHUS – latest bout with Jennifer Retzke
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