Jirov-Toney, Griffin-Tarver Recap

By Tom Donelson

27.04 - In the undercard of the Toney- Jirov fight, Antonio Tarver and Montell Griffin staged what could be called -life in the light heavyweights after Jones. Both men have a history of fighting cautionous fights but this fight would be different. After a feeling process that lasted one minute, Tarver and Griffin were throwing punches with bad intent and Tarver threw first blood when Tarver nailed Griffin behind the head as Griffin flew past after missing with a wild right. Griffin went down and got up wobbly, only to be saved by the bell.

The second round set the pattern. Griffin, getting pounded, decided to play rope a dope and try to catch Tarver off the rope. Griffin has modest success with this strategy as he nails Tarver with a few power punches but Tarver dominated especially when both fighters were in the middle of the ring. As Griffin attacked, he was greeted with barrage of accurate punches. Griffin strategy was simple, wear out Tarver. Tarver strategy was as simple, keep Griffin at the end of his punches where his power will do the damage.

After six rounds, Tarver was pitching a shut out and in between the sixth and seventh round, Griffin's right eye was cut and in the seventh round, the ring judge had the ringside doctor check the damage. Tarver's power and punch output was now showing its effect upon Griffin's face. Tarver's corner repeatedly warned their fighter of overconfidence. After the sixth round, Tarver told his corner, "I have the guy." Buddy McGirt stared Tarver in the eye and replied, "Listen to me, you don't have the fight won until it is over."

But as the rounds continue to drone on, Tarver mastery was becoming more obvious as Griffin's left eye was closing to go with his cut right eye. Griffin had nothing but heart and a left hook left to fight with. At the end of the ninth round, Griffin nailed and buckled Tarver with a left hook after basically taking another beating. McGirt, fearing that his fighter was slowing down, ask Tarver, "I need nine minutes, do you have nine minutes?"

Fatigue was starting to set in on Tarver as Griffin pushed Tarver to the rope in the first minute of the tenth round. Just as Captain Ahab searched for the white whale, Griffin was looking for the right punch to change the fight. McGirt yelled at Tarver, "The man is ready to go, he is dead man. Just keep punching." McGirt reminded Tarver to stay focus.

Griffin's leg show sign of wearing out but he kept plugging away. While Tarver's hands are low, he still dominated the fight. Emmanuel Steward, in the HBO telecast booth, observed that a younger and more powerful fighter might have had Tarver in trouble but on this night, Tarver had a smaller Griffin in front of him and Griffin's forte was counterpunching. Griffin was not a one-punch knock out artist.

Tarver and Griffin meet in the round for the final round and McGirt yelled at Tarver, "Close it out like a champion." Griffin rushed out but his attack was ineffectual, throwing one punch at a time. Near the end of the round, Tarver knocked Griffin down one more time and while Griffin got up, it was too late. The result was preordained and Tarver pitched a shut out.

Tarver will not remind anyone of Bob Foster, Archie Moore or even Roy Jones, Jr. but he is solid fighter and certainly this fight was an entertaining affair, even though this fight was a lopsided affair. This was one of those fights that in spite of the one sidedness of the bout still left one satisfied if for one reason, both fighters gave it all.

As for James Toney, I was always partial to him. In 1991, My wife and I went off to Las Vegas for weekend and Toney was fighting Reggie Johnson. My wife got to hear Michael Buffer yell, "Let's get ready to Rumble," and saw an entertaining fight as Toney beat Johnson. In 1991, Toney was considered one of the world's best but Roy Jones assigned Toney down to the second tier of boxing hierarchy. Tonight, Toney's goal was to reclaim his place in boxing history.

The first round begins with Jirov pressuring Toney and Toney using all the tricks rolling with punches, moving his head and with minute left in the ring, nails Jirov with picture perfect right hand. Jirov push Toney to the rope and pounded Toney to the body and Toney slipped Jirov punches and threw two more hard rights counters to Jirov. The pace of the fight favored Jirov.

Jirov decided to go for broke as he threw three punches to Toney one in the second round and some of the punches got through Toney's defense. Jirov threw 102 punches in the second round and leaving the question, how long does a 190 pounds last throwing 100 punches a round? This night Jirov averaged nearly 90 punches so if nothing else, Jirov had endurance. In the third round, Toney showed life and hand quickness as he scored several good shots, slowing Jirov down.

At the end of the fifth round, Toney's accuracy was showing its effect on Jirov's face as Jirov started to swell but Jirov kept coming. "Keep pounding on him," Tommy Brooks implored Jirov whereas Toney's trainer Freddie Roach, reminded Toney, "Keep using angles, keep using angles." At the end of the sixth round, both men were involved in a war, a cruiserweight version of Ali- Frazier.

The eighth round began with a Jirov low blow and Jirov lost a point. Jirov continued to pressure Toney and did not allow the low blow deduction to keep him from pounding body punches. The Tenth round begin with Toney staggering Jirov and as HBO's Jim Lampley's observed, "Jirov is best defense is just to move forward." Jirov just kept moving right in Toney's powerhouse and now the final two rounds lay ahead for both fighters, exhausted after the previous 10 rounds. Jirov took the eleventh by out hustling Toney's and in between the eleventh and twelve, both corners told their fighter, "this is it you are losing, you need the twelve round."

Both fighters laid the shots after shots and the final round as the rest of the fight ebbed and flowed. Jirov kept coming forward but Toney kept punching accurately. Then with 16 seconds left, Toney laid a solid right and Jirov went twirling around as Toney nailed Jirov with one more right. Jirov took a standing ten and with 4 seconds left, Jirov survived the round and lost the match.

While the judges had the fight easily in Toney's favor but the fight was close and could have gone either way. Toney's connected on nearly half of his punches but Jirov threw nearly 100 punches a round and it depends if you like the clean puncher or the slugger who keeps coming forward. This night, the officials favored the clean puncher. For Toney, this was redemption. Once again, he was a champion. Nor was Jirov an easy target. Undefeated, Jirov was a tough customer and a natural 190 pounder. A well-conditioned fighter, Jirov forced Toney to fight and throw punches. Toney, a veteran of 70 fights, had to fight every minute of the round. Jirov did not give Toney any peace and yet, Toney demonstrated a heart of the champion, doing what was needed to win.

Toney is a throwback to the old fighters. His defensive skills is one of the best in the business as he moves his head, rolls his shoulder and moves his feet enough to counter his opponent. Jirov fights like a junior Rocky Marcinano for he throws punches and he hits every part of the body. He is not as smooth of fighter than Toney but he does have boxing skills and he can use his body effectively. Throughout the fight, he would bull and push Toney to the rope and many times in the evening he would smother Toney's ability to counterpunch.

These fighters demonstrated what boxing should be. You throw punches, you use defensive skills to avoid shots and you come into a bout in shape to go the full distance. As I mentioned, Jirov averaged nearly 90 punches per rounds but Toney averaged nearly 70 punches a round. Both fighters fought every minute of every round. There was no period of extended rest in any round. Jirov would not allow it and Toney accepted the challenge. Toney had toiled in the Hades of the boxing world since the Jones defeat and his upset defeats at the hand of Montell Griffin. This fight demonstrated Toney was indeed a great fighter who was never given his due. I say, rematch.