He will turn 47 years old in November, yet Antonio ‘Magic Man’ Tarver, the former 175 lb boss many fans best remember for his trilogy of fights with Roy Jones Jr, is set to step between the ropes again at heavyweight in August, when he fights former cruiserweight boss Steve Cunningham on the PBC on Spike card from Newark, New Jersey.
If the Florida man comes through against Cunningham, he has insisted to ThaBoxingVoice that the only fights that make sense for the future would be against the likes of Deontay Wilder, or dominant lineal champion Wladimir Klitschko, who fights Tyson Fury in Germany in October.
Tarver, who has only had 5 fights in the last 6 years, is also certain he is the man to break the record set by George Foreman, who at 45 yrs, 310 days is the oldest man to ever hold a world heavyweight title.
He said;
“This is what I do, man. This is my passion, it’s my love and I’ve got one big enormous dream left in this final chapter of my illustrious career – and that’s to become the oldest man ever to win the heavyweight championship.”
“We’re embarking on one hell of a magic carpet ride over the next year and a half.”
And Tarver is confident of gaining a shot the old fashioned way;
“It’ll have to come by process of elimination and I’m gonna have to eliminate everyone else out there, the same way I did in the light-heavyweight division.”
“After Cunningham it can only really be Wilder and Klitschko but I know they not gonna hand me Klitschko ‘just like that.’ They gonna make me earn it and I may have to go through Deontay Wilder to get that shot – so be it, I’m ready for whatever.”
“Wilder has that belt and that puts a marker on his head so he needs to know I’m coming for that championship. I want greatness and that’s what I’ve always been about.”
“I think that’ll be my path to Klitschko.”
Twitter @Undilutedpoison