Tarver stops Sheppard

By Boxing News - 11/27/2013 - Comments

tarver673By Eric Thomas: 45-year-old former IBF/WBA/WBC light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver (30-6, 21 KO’s) stopped 38-year-old journeyman Mike Sheppard (21-16-1, 9 KO’s) in the 4th round on Tuesday night to capture the interim NABA heavyweight title at the BB&t Center, in Sunrise, Florida, USA. Tarver knocked Sheppard down 3 times in the 4th round to cause referee Samuel Burgos to step in and halt the bout at 1:54 of the round.

Tarver knocked Sheppard down with a left uppercut thrown from the outside. After Sheppard got back to his feet, Tarver flurried on him and send him down for the second time in the round with a right hand to the lower back. The referee still ruled it a knockdown for some reason. Moments later, Tarver nailed Sheppard with a left hook to the head that put him down for the third and final time in the round.

Tarver was able to hit Sheppard at will with left hands and jabs from the outside. It was mostly one-way traffic with Tarver hitting Sheppard with punch after punch and admiring his work after each shot, as if waiting for Sheppard to collapse on the canvas. He did eventually fall down but it took a little longer than expected.

Tarver looked okay in the fight. He wasn’t as flabby looking as he’s been in some fights, and looked sharp as far as his skills go. However, Tarver’s power wasn’t all that impressive for a heavyweight, and that was the reason why Sheppard was able to make it to the 4th round. Sheppard was recently stopped in the 1st round by Vinny Maddalone and Ruslan Chagaev. He was also stopped in the 2nd round by Denis Boytsov and the 4th round by Brian Minto. The fact that it took Taver 4 rounds to take him out isn’t a good sign for his future hopes of getting a world title shot against one of the Klitschkos.

Tarver has a one-year plan where he hopes to fight enough to get a world title shot against one of the Klitschko brothers. However, it’s not likely that either of the Klitschkos will give Tarver a world title shot unless he’s the mandatory challenger. Tarver’s advanced age will probably be enough to scare the Klitschkos off from fighting him because there wouldn’t be much of a gain in fighting him unless he’s able to beat some of the top heavyweight contenders during the next year.

It would be very difficult for Tarver to beat any of the top heavyweight contenders in the division fighting the way he did last night. He’s just not powerful enough, and he’d have problems against the real big guys like Tyson Fury, Kubrat Pulev and Deontay Wilder due their size and power.



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