06.11.05 – By Patsys Jones: A win is a win, we often hear this in boxing. However when fighters split wins in 2 fights, it is the fighter who wins the last fight usually prove to be the better fighter. Well at least that is what history has shown us. Robinsons – Lamotta; Charles – Moore: Ali – Cooper; Ali – Frazier; Holyfield – Tyson; Lewis – Holyfield; Holyfield – Moorer; Lewis – McCall; Lewis – Rahman. Should I go on? Some of these guys have 1-1 record against their opponents e.g. Lewis – Rahman, Holyfield – Moorer but there is no question as to who is the better fighter.
I guess it’s because the superior fighter is the one who can make the better adjustment based on the outcome of the previous fight.
There are fights that go against this observation e.g. Holmes – Spinks, Toney – Griffin, but those are disputed decisions to say the least.
Now comes the Jones – Tarver trilogy.
How do I fit in their fights into my findings? Simple, Tarver is the superior fighter at 175 lbs. I am not buying the excuses that Jones is shot – he definitely is not. Anybody with an ounce of objectivity would say that there is nothing in his last 3 fights that suggests he is shot.
I have heard it all, how Jones in his prime would have done this, done that to Tarver and Johnson. How the 20 lbs of muscle he need to lose from fighting Ruiz caught up to him. Come’on. Let us accept the simple fact that even if you give Jones all the time he needs, he will still lose to Tarver.
That doesn’t mean Tarver has accomplished greater than Jones though. Jones wil rank higher P4P but Tarver simply better. Better does not necessarily mean greater.
I heard Jones said he will fight Tarver again sometime in the future. I was a big Jones fan but the way I see it, he doesn’t deserve a shot. He must work his way up again to prove he is worthy of it. How many fighters who get koed twice in a row get another shot at the recognized champ in the division with 50/50 split in purse? And what did he do in the ring? Ran and survive as if his life depended on it. I am not even sure why he took the fight in the first place.
I would like to be proven wrong but so far, but the current version of Tarver beats any version of Jones. Any..