Tarver had an important amateur boxing career, which led him to represent the United States at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He won a bronze medal at the Olympics.
A relatively late starter in professional boxing, Tarver made his professional debut on February 18, 1997, with a knocking out of Joaquin Garcia in two rounds at the legendary "Blue Horizon" in Philadelphia. Tarver was 28 years old when he debuted as a professional.
Tarver won his first ten fights, eight by knockout, before stepping up on his level of competition. Most of these ten fights took place either in his native Florida or at the "Blue Horizon". For his eleventh fight, he met veteran Rocky Gannon, a former title holder of a minor organization's Heavyweight belt, on August 30 of 1998, in Chester, West Virginia. Tarver knocked out Gannon in two rounds.
On February 29 of 2000, he fought Ernest Mateen, who had previously lost to James Toney, and he knocked Mateen out in round one at Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tarver suffered his first career loss when he was knocked down in the eleventh round by Eric Harding, en route to a unanimous decision loss on June 23 of that year, in Biloxi, Mississippi.
He rebounded off his first defeat with four wins in a row, including a knockout of Harding in five rounds in a rematch.
On April 26, 2003, Tarver received his first world title shot, when he faced former world champion Montell Griffin for the WBC and IBF world Light-Heavyweight titles that had been vacated by Roy Jones Jr., who had beaten John Ruiz for the WBA world Heavyweight title one month before. Tarver dropped Griffin in rounds one and two. Nevertheless, Griffin lasted the twelve round distance, but Tarver was crowned world Light-Heavyweight champion with a unanimous decision.
Next, Roy Jones Jr. decided that he wanted to keep the Light-Heavyweight titles and not the Heavyweight one. Initially, Roy Jones Jr. was given his Light-Heavyweight belts back, but this caused such a controversy that the IBF and WBC agreed it would be better to re-declare Tarver as the champion, and have the two gladiators fight for the championship.
Given little chance of beating Roy Jones Jr. by many fans and experts, Tarver defended the title against Jones Jr. on November 8 of 2003 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tarver surprised many by being on the verge of defeating Roy Jones Jr., losing his title by a majority decision. Because many fans, writers and observers thought Tarver had done enough to win, a small but well publicized controversy ensued, and the pair were once again ordered to box against each other.
Because of Jones's ability to adjust to opponents' styles during rematches, Tarver was still given a small, though bigger, chance of winning the fight by fans and critics alike before their second fight, held on May 15 of 2004 in Las Vegas. Tarver produced a minor upset by recovering the world titles by knockout in two rounds. In the eyes of most observers, it wasn't as shocking that Tarver had beaten Roy Jones Jr. as it was that he had knocked him out; in fifty previous fights, Roy Jones Jr. had been sent to the floor only once, and he had never lost a fight by knockout. Tarver is best known, though, for his comments prior to round one. When referee Jay Nady asked whether the fighters had any questions, Tarver surprised everyone (though he had told his trainer, Buddy McGirt, he would do this) by asking Jones if he "had any excuses tonight".
Tarver became a mainstream celebrity after his win over Roy Jones Jr., making appearances at late-night shows, being on the cover of Ring and KO Magazines and being spotted by television cameras as a spectator at various boxing fights. He also hosted ESPN's "Friday Night Fights" show for one telecast.
The WBC decided to strip Tarver of the world title because Tarver went on and fought the then IBF world champion Glencoffe Johnson instead of facing the WBC's number 1 challenger. Johnson himself had been stripped of the IBF world championship before their bout for the same reason (he would not fight the IBF's mandatory challenger), which took place on December 18, at Temecula, California. Both fighters were celebrated for this decision to fight each other because they had both made a statement by taking this fight that the titles of the WBC, WBA and IBF were not authentic titles, and that their "#1 contenders" were not fighters worthy of being given title defenses. Instead, Tarver and Johnson, the two best fighters in the division, fought each other. Ring Magazine announced that the winner would be declared its recognized champion.
Tarver, considered a favorite to win the fight, suffered a minor upset when he was defeated by Johnson by a split decision, in Temecula, California. Tarver did not appear to be in top shape for this fight, though many still thought he should have won.
He avenged the loss 6 months later with a unanimous decision over Johnson at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. He out-boxed and out-worked the aggressive Johnson, and clearly won the bout, regaining the Light Heavyweight Championship.
Tarver defeated Roy Jones Jr. on October 1, 2005 in Tampa, Florida via unanimous decision, almost knocking out Jones again in the 11th round.
--Wikipedia
UNITED STATES