On Saturday, January 21st a stretch of Boxing cards
spanning four events in a five day period continued. Following an exciting
eleven bout card promoted by Undisputed Promotions in Kissimmee, FL on January
20th, night two of Florida Boxing showcased two Boxing events taking
place on both the east and west coast of the state. First, in Miami at Casino
Miami, rising Heavyweight contender Jonathan Guidry squared off against former
WBC Heavyweight world champion Bernane Stiverne in a bout scheduled for ten
rounds.
In previewing this fight, this observer stated that this
appeared to be an encounter between two fighters moving in different directions
in their respective careers. Guidry being the fighter on the rise, Stiverne
having not won a fight in nearly eight years, who has also dealt with lengthy
periods of inactivity as well. While seemingly every fight in the Heavyweight
division currently between contenders of any description has the sub-plot of
whether the fighters involved can provide a strong argument for themselves as
for trying to move themselves into position to challenge for a world
championship, this fight was one where no argument could be made for either
fighter.
For ten rounds, the two fighters, who fought in the main
event of a card presented by Hall of Fame promoter Don King’s Don King
Productions, engaged in a fight where neither fighter seemed to take the
initiative. Whether it was due to a respect between the two fighters or a bad
clash of styles, Guidry and Stiverne’s bout may be described as a brisk
sparring session as opposed to a competitive fight if one did not know better
based on the pace the fight was fought as well as the lack of action
throughout. At the conclusion of the ten round bout, it was Guidry who would
have his hand raised in victory by a wide unanimous decision based largely on
the fact that he was the more active of the two fighters throughout.
With the victory, Guidry retained his North American
Boxing Association (NABA) Heavyweight title and should maintain his standing in
terms of the world rankings as a fighter on the rise. Although he did what he
needed to do and scored a victory over a notable opponent, Guidry may have been
able to get a stoppage in this fight had he been more aggressive. It is true
that every fighter can have a bad night at the office, but for a fighter in his
position that is trying to move his way into world championship contention,
Guidry will need to do a little more to force himself into the discussion of
potential world title challengers. As for Bernane Stiverne, after losing five
of his last six fights over nearly eight years, it may be time for him to think
about retirement.
This now brings us to the second main event that took
place on January 21st as we move to the west coast of Florida where
undefeated Jr. Middleweight Antonio Tarver Jr. headlined a Boxing card at Calta’s
Fitness and Boxing in Tampa. The son of former two-division world champion
Antonio Tarver headlined a card promoted by his father’s Tarver Promotions by
facing fellow undefeated Drew Dwelly in a scheduled ten round bout. Whenever I
have the opportunity to cover the offspring of a fighter that I have watched
and in this case had covered in years past, I tend to look for similarities in
terms of style between the parent and the new generation of fighter.
In this case, this was the first time I had the
opportunity to see Antonio Tarver Jr. in action, so I was keenly interested in
what I would see in this fight. It should also be noted that when it comes to
the children of great fighters as Antonio Tarver was, it is not uncommon to see
them matched against opposition that some might call soft or questionable, at
least in the very early stages of their careers. This would not be the case for
Antonio Tarver's eleventh professional fight as Drew Dwelly was also unbeaten
and proved to provide him with a decent test in a fight that was for the vacant
North American Boxing Federation (NABF Jr. Middleweight championship.
Dwelly did this by applying pressure on Tarver early in
the fight and trying to both cut the ring off and force him to go toe to toe
with him. While this strategy had mixed results for Dwelly, this seemed as
though it would be crucial in terms of Tarver’s development as a fighter.
As far as the similarities between Tarver Sr. and Tarver
Jr. in terms of style, Tarver Sr. was a fighter that dominated most of his
fights by his ability to double and triple jab his opponents, mixing in the
rest of his offense, which were often highlighted by hooks to the head, and
moving laterally to keep an opponent from being able to close the gap. While
Tarver Jr. did show some characteristics of his father’s style, what I observed
was more of a style based on counter punching and being able to catch his
opponent in between punches while in the midst of exchanges. While this was
slightly different both in terms of style as well as general approach in
comparison to his father, Tarver Jr. did show glimpses of hand speed and
punching power that was quite similar to Tarver Sr.
The edge in hand speed as well as his precision timing
ultimately resulted in Tarver being able to land the cleaner, more effective
punches of the two fighters. In the eighth round, Tarver would bring the fight
to a sudden conclusion. After having Dwelly
in trouble in the latter stages of round seven, Tarver put his opponent down
with a combination highlighted by left hands that sent Dwelly down and out on
the canvas. What was the eleventh win of his career, Antonio Tarver Jr. appears
to be nearing title contention as winning the NABF championship will move him
up the rankings in the World Boxing Council (WBC) Jr. Middleweight ratings,
which the NABF is affiliated with the organization similar to Jonathan Guidry
holding the NABA championship in the Heavyweight division per its affiliation with
the World Boxing Association (WBA).
Out of the two victors in these two fights, it was
Antonio Tarver Jr. that was the more impressive of the two, but it is important
for Johnathan Guidry to remember that not every fight that you win will have a head-turning,
highlight-reel like performance and he ultimately did what he needed to do in
his fight with Bermane Stiverne to get a
victory. As for where Tarver and Guidry will go in terms of their progression
throughout 2023, it obviously remains to be seen, but with each scoring a win,
each has successfully taken a step forward.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
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Denison All Rights Reserved.
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