Antonio Tarver
FameRank: 5

"Antonio Deon Tarver", nicknamed the "Magic Man", is an American professional Boxing/boxer and a former World Boxing Council/WBC, World Boxing Association/WBA, International Boxing Federation/IBF and The Ring (magazine)#The Ring world champions/The Ring Light Heavyweight champion.

Tarver built an impressive amateur career, including winning a bronze medal while representing the United States at the 1996 Summer Olympics/1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, eventually losing to Vassiliy Jirov, who he'd previously defeated in a match at the 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships. He also captured the gold medal at the 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Berlin, just two months after having triumphed by also winning gold at the Boxing at the 1995 Pan American Games/Pan American Games in Mar del Plata. Tarver became the first - and to this day, only - fighter to have won the Pan Am Games, National Championships & World Championships all in the same year.

In 2006, Tarver starred as Mason Dixon (Rocky Balboa character)/Mason "The Line" Dixon, the heavyweight champion in the film Rocky Balboa (film)/Rocky Balboa.

More Antonio Tarver on Wikipedia.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I'm going in there and I can expect a knockout.

Hopkins gives us this feel good story of how he's going to walk away from the boxing game, riding out on his throne.

I'm the legend killer. That's my new moniker. Like Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins had his era and now he's got to go. Personally, I think he's nuts for even thinking he can beat me. But I'm not going to talk him out of (trying).

He is one of the all-time greats in this sport. I'm expecting to face a prime Roy Jones at his best.

I finally have a dance partner.

But he'll be close enough to walk home.

I bet $250,000 that he won't make it to the sixth round. I'm a man of my word and I gotta hold true to that.

If I give him a window of opportunity to get lucky, he has a great chance of upsetting me, ... I respect Roy and I can't underestimate him. If I do, that's his only chance for success.