Antonio Tarver Quotes (40 Quotes)

A lot of people are thinking I'm one-punch happy. I'm a better fighter today than you've ever seen. I'm more focused. I'm more convinced of my ability. Whatever Roy Jones brings, I'm here to tell you it won't be good enough. Not here. Not now. Not ever.

He was beat by a better fighter. Period. I am one of the best fighters in the world. Give me my credit. You all thought I would be one-punch happy but I passed my test. I did my homework. I took nothing for granted. I wasn't assured of victory until they raised my hand.

His words to me were 'I wrote the script with you in mind.' I am truly excited about the possibility of playing Mason Dixon, and we're getting ready to work an entirely different stage, baby.

Maybe now people will give a man credit where credit is deserved. Roy Jones was beaten by a better fighter period. I'm one of the best in the world.

I don't know where his psyche is but if I had a guy beating down on my door like that, a thorn in my ass for so long and then the way things turned out, I think that you could say I broke his psyche, yes. Because I never looked at him as the great Roy Jones Jr., the immortal champion, the guy that was unbeatable, unstoppable. I never looked at him like that. I always looked at him outta my eyes. And when I looked at him I saw him as a regular person. Just a man. And that's why I was able to go in there and have the confidence - and to know if I got the opportunity - I would be revered as the best fight he's ever faced. He was coming off of winning the heavyweight championship of the world when he faced Antonio Tarver. So I know, excuses aside, he hadn't faced a real fighter until he faced me.

I put the golf clubs up, that's a testament to my commitment, ... Whenever you call me when I'm not boxing, I'm on a golf course somewhere. So having to be able to put those up consistently, it's been beautiful. So we know we're focused and we're ready.

I abused drugs for about seven months, ... It started in the summer of 1987 when I was nineteen years old. I was out of school, running around with the wrong crowd. I was doing lace a mixture of crack and marijuana. And what happened was, in my mind, the drug became the only value that mattered. I was involved in something that I'd lost control over. My responsibilities become secondary to the drug. I began to change as a person. I was acting crazy. Finally, one night, I went into my mother's room when she was sleeping, woke her up, and told her, 'Mom I'm in trouble. I have a problem.' She was like, 'What are you talking about' And I said, 'Mom I'm messed up. I'm using drugs.' We cried all night. She was very hurt, and I felt horrible because of the shame and hurt I was bringing her. Neither of us was educated on the matter, but we found out where I could go to get help. I went into a residential rehab program for six months. I had to do some rebuilding. They educated me about my problems and my purpose in life, and I'm a better person now because of the experience. I learned from my mistake and put it behind me. I could have given up on myself. I know people who have battled drugs for years and never kicked the habit. But I beat it. It never resurfaced, and I'm very proud of that.

When I show up ready and prepared, I'm undefeated. I've never lost. I'm hard-headed in some ways and have to learn my lesson the hard way, ... It's the best lesson learned, unfortunately, but it costs you.

That remains to be seen, ... Roy didn't give himself enough time off before he fought Glen Johnson. Now he's had time to rest, physically and mentally. He looks good we know he's serious. A desperate fighter is a dangerous fighter, and Roy is desperate now. If he loses this fight, it's all over for him so he's going to prepare like he's never prepared before. I'm training for the best Roy Jones ever. If he's less than that, so be it. If he's a shot fighter, I'm the one who shot him.

He isn't going to hit me with the left hand anyway, so he won't have much use for that, ... whatever Roy Jones shows up, I am planning on destroying.

At the same time, I should have been more responsible to my career and the game that has given me so much, boxing. It was a tough lessoned learned. They gave me 1 12 months to get prepared for the fight coming off hot dogs, Cokes and a lot of pasta. It was a tough transition.

The talent and skill were always there, but I took shortcuts, ... If I made weight, I thought I was in shape. I won my first sixteen fights on talent alone. Then I fought Eric Harding. That was a wake-up call. He broke my jaw. I knew I was hurt bad. There was pain from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head. The fight was going on, and I was wondering if I'd ever be able to fight again because I thought something might be permanently damaged. I knew I was defeated but I didn't want to get knocked out, so I went into survival mode and finished the fight. Then, after the loss, I asked myself, 'How bad do I want it What am I willing to do to get it' I started taking better care of my body and working harder. I worked my way back to being the number-one contender. I could have just sat back and waited for a title shot. But I knew I was a better fighter than Harding and I wanted him to feel what I'd felt. So I signed to fight a rematch against him and knocked him out.

He was bested by a better fighter, ... I didn't feel like he was intimidated. If I made a mistake he would have punished me.

I put the golf clubs up -- that shows my commitment, ... Whenever you call me and I'm not boxing, I'm on a golf course somewhere. So being able to put those up -- you know we're focused and ready.

Basically, the fight was rushed on me at a time when I was really enjoying my celebrity. You never stop learning. I traveled the country and went on a few vacations. I was just living the life,

Roy had a lot of resistance, ... playing chess all around. He was beat by a better fighter. Period. I passed my test. I did my homework.

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

Tarver and Jones met in the ring for the first time as 13-year-olds at the 1982 Sunshine State Games. I won the first round, ... Roy won the second. The third round was close and he got the decision. Then, when I was fourteen, my mother moved us to a better section of Orlando that was thirty miles from the Boys Club. There was no way for me to get to the gym, so I gave up boxing and concentrated on other sports. I played quarterback and wide receiver in football and shooting guard on the high school basketball team. In my mind, I was good. But I wasn't as good as I thought.

It's really a slap in the face to all those who have pumped him up and glorified him all these years and that's the media, ... He shows no compassion for the sport - the sport that made him a wealthy man, an icon. Shame on him.

I'm ready to take care of my business. What you all didn't see the first time around, and what you think you didn't see the second time around, if you think it's going to be any different, then you're sadly mistaken.

I don't know what he can say anyway that's gonna make a difference in the outcome of this fight, ... When you look at a guy that's unsure of what's gonna happen, the last thing you want to do is come out and stick your foot in your mouth. So it's best that he stays quiet, he stays hidden, and he works as hard as he can work to avoid the inevitable, and that's getting knocked out on October 1st. So when you're looking at a guy from that standpoint, you have to say 'okay, I understand.'

I think Roy now understands that his legacy is on the line. He wants redemption, and the only way he can get that is by beating me. For once in his life, he's taking a real risk, and you have to commend him for that. But it's Tarver time. Roy might be as great as everybody says he is. But I plan to show once again that he's not better than me.

I didn't proclaim Roy to be the greatest thing since Sugar Ray Robinson, ... You all did. The media and the politics made Roy out to be what he is. Roy Jones's greatness is a myth. Sometimes I think the people at HBO have dementia. They're the ones who have made the great Roy Jones an icon, but I never looked at Roy Jones through the media's eyes.

I want to post a question to the media, ... When will you be convinced Will Oct. 1 be good enough

Tonight I had to really dig deep because you saw the best of Roy Jones.

I don't know what technical changes he can make. Obviously, he needs to make a whole lot of 'em. I bring families back together again. I should get some credit for that.

I'm the only one he can make serious money with, but I'm not going to wait around for Jeff Lacy either because I just don't think in the big scheme of things it does anything for my legacy. It's all about my legacy now,

We got prepared for the second fight. We came in shape. We came in conditioned. We worked very, very hard. We were determined to once again overturn a political decision, ... I became a champion that night because I knew I could go the length to get the job done, and that's why I'm coming into this fight with the same confidence I've always had.

The fight will give me what I want. It brings about the luster of boxing our sport is missing. If I can't beat Mike Tyson, I can't run with the big boys.

It seems like I always have to take matters into my own hands and be my own judge and jury, and that's my right and my left hand,

I met Sylvester Stallone back in 1995. He flew me from Atlanta to Orlando and my entire family met him and his wife at Planet Hollywood. We sat down and talked boxing. He loved boxing and all the things I had overcome. He really took a liking to me,

Tonight, I really had to dig deep, ... I let him know my will was stronger than his.

I think it's a slap in the face to all the people that have pumped him up and glorified him over the years,

I should be commended. I bring families back together, ... I think it's good because his father is the only one with the compassion to throw in the towel when he sees his son in over his head.

Tampa, get ready because here we come, ... It's going to be an electric night of boxing, and once and for all we will put the nail in Roy Jones' coffin. May he rest in peace.

Rocky is coming back. The movie is going to be on a big stage in boxing. Rocky has never fought a real champion, and I'm not going to tell you the outcome of the movie, but I ain't used to losing,

I wasn't going to let it go to the scorecards and I knew I had already played that game before, and there is nothing fair in the game of boxing. I learned that the hard way,

To come out in Tampa, Fla., my hometown, it's going to be big. It's going down in history as one of the most memorable trilogies of all time.

Antonio Tarver presented a formidable challenge. He was born in Orlando to a single-parent mother who raised him and three daughters on her own. She and my father never lived together, ... He was a Vietnam vet. It's hard to say he was my father because he was never there. Biologically, he donated but that's about all. We never saw much of each other, just a phone call here and there, so I never had that male figure in my life. That was a void I had to live with.

Put real life in perspective... I am not in awe by the media or HBO... they are the ones that have made Roy Jones into some kind of icon... they have blown him up... well I am the one who popped that balloon.