Antonio Deon Tarver (born November 21, 1968) is an American professional boxer. Nicknamed the "Magic Man", he is a former WBC, WBA (Super), IBF and The Ring magazine light heavyweight champion, as well as a former IBO cruiserweight champion.

As an amateur, Tarver won a bronze medal in the light heavyweight division while representing the United States at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, eventually losing to Vassiliy Jirov, whom he had previously defeated 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 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata; Tarver also won gold at the United States national amateur boxing championships in 1995. Tarver is the first (and to date, only) fighter to have ever won gold in the Pan Am Games, World Amateur Championship, and US National championship all in the same year.

In 2006, Tarver starred as Mason "The Line" Dixon, the heavyweight champion in the film Rock Balboa.

Professional career

Early years

Tarver made his professional debut at hte age of 28 on February 18, 1997, with a second-round knockout of Joaquin Garcia at the legendary "Blue Horizon" in Philadelphia.

Tarver won his first 16 fights, 14 by knockout, before stepping up his level of competition. After taking most of his first 16 fights in either his native Florida or at the "Blue Horizon", for his 11th fight he met veteran Rocky Gannon in Chester, West Virginia, on August 30, 1998. Tarver knocked out Gannon in the second round.

On February 29, 2000, Tarver scored a knockout against Ernest M-16 Mateen in Las Vegas. Later that year, Tarver suffered his first loss when he was knocked down in the 11th round by Eric Harding, en route to a unanimous decision on June 23 in Biloxi, Mississippi. This was an IBF title elimination bout, where the winner would face Roy Jones Jr.

In 2002, Tarver defeated former two-weight world champion Reggie Johnson by split decision to win the NABF & USBA light-heavyweight titles, and a guaranteed title shot at Roy Jones. He then scored a fifth round stoppage over Harding in a rematch that was on the undercard of the rematch between Shane Mosely and Vernon Forrest. Tarver was trailing on the scorecards until the 4th round, when he sent Harding to the canvas with a barrage of unanswered power shots; Harding was also floored twice in the 5th round, leading to the stoppage.

Winning the light heavyweight tiles

On April 26, 2003, Tarver received his first world title shot, when he faced former WBC champion Montel Griffin for the WBC & IBF light heavyweight titles that had been vacated by Roy Jones Jr., who had gone on to defeat John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title the previous month. After dropping Griffin in the first and last rounds, Tarver was crowned champion after winning a unanimous decision.

Tarver vs Jones I & II

Next, rather than remain at heavyweight, Jones planned to return to light heavyweight and regain his belts. Given little chance of winning, Tarver took a weight drained Jones the distance and lost the fight and WBC title by a majority decision on November 8, 2003, in Las Vegas (Tarver had relinquished the IBF title a few days earlier in anticipation of being unable to make a mandatory defense.)

In a rematch on May 15, 2004 in Las Vegas, Tarver upset the odds to regain the WBC title and win the "WBA Super" title by knocking Jones out in the second round. In fifty previous fights, Jones had only been sent to the floor once, leaving most observers shocked at the result.