What’s been going on since your last fight against Dawson? I’ve just been watching the landscape of the light heavyweight division. Roy Jones just fought Calzaghe, which was very interesting to me. A lot of people feel that Calzaghe’s the gatekeeper to the light heavyweight division, but I beg to differ. We have the Chad Dawson rematch coming up in March or April. I lost my last fight to him, but I’m undefeated in rematches. In fact, after all three of my losses I came back and won by knock out. Hopefully once I reclaim my championship then we can see what Calzaghe’s really made of. He’s fought Hopkins, he’s fought Jones, but there’s one intricate name that he’s missing – he’s never faced Tarver. Do you feel like you were 100% prepared to fight Chad Dawson? I would say I was 100% prepared, but in boxing, there’s little things that can happen during the fight that will offset you, things that you have to adapt to on the spot. The first round we came out and felt strong, but for some reason I got into this aggressive, one-dimensional fighter that’s not me. It allowed him to do some things that ordinarily he wouldn’t have been able to do. I fought an ordinary fight, and even in doing that, the fight wasn’t as much of a blowout as it may have seemed. Yes, he was more active than me, but a lot of those punches weren’t landing. If you look at his face and my face at the end of the fight, it’d be hard to see who won because he was swollen everywhere. The only thing that was swollen on me was my arms and wrists from blocking all of his shots. But the judges don’t really award [points for] defense a lot. They don’t appreciate good, scientific boxing. The object of the game is to hit and not be hit and I’ve perfected that. Granted I’m 39 and I’ve got a birthday coming up, but it was a very competitive fight. In the rematch I will make some adjustments, box my style of boxing, and prove to be the better fighter. As far as Orlando is concerned, you’re a hometown hero. What responsibilities come along with that? You want to make your hometown proud of you, in anything you do. You want to be your best. And you do that by staying out of trouble, not being in the news with negative press because a lot of people are rooting for you. I wasn’t trying to be a role model, but if I can be a positive influence on the inner city kids I welcome that opportunity. That’s why with my Antonio Tarver Foundation, which is
a leadership program, I show the kids that it’s ok to get out here and have dreams. When you look at Barack Obama winning the presidency, that’s a feel-good story that should make young black kids say, “The sky’s the limit.” There’s no excuse for failure. I come from a less fortunate environment and at one time I was a lost soul, and I think God [blessed] me and I want to give blessings back. On the note of being a target when you’re successful, can you speak on the situation with Superhead and how you’ve dealt with her putting your private business out in public? I’m human and we all mistakes. You might think about the moment, but you don’t think about tomorrow. One day I made a bad decision that I regret, but I can’t take that back. I faced the music on that. Fortunately I have a supportive wife that understands that as a man, I’m going to make mistakes. I’ll forever try to make that up to her for the hurt and embarrassment it caused her. I’m thankful that she has a forgiving heart and knows I love her dearly. What was being in the Rocky movie like? Are you going to try to pursue anymore acting roles? I was a co-star in one of the biggest sports franchise movies of all times, and yes, I’d really like the opportunity to go to L.A. and do some work. But right now it has to be suitable for my schedule and that’s what makes it tough. I can’t juggle [acting] with my [boxing] career because I’m only a year or so away from the end of it. I don’t want to spread myself thin and have any regrets. I’ll have more than enough time to do acting, commentary, and work on my promotional company once I retire. What about working with some of the local talent? I hear you’re a supporter of Slim E. I think he’s the next big thing. I’ve heard a lot of great rappers along the way and I’d compare him to Jay-Z and T.I. when you look at his lyrical ability. Hopefully the masses will feel the same way and take Slim to the next level. D.S.K. is a movement. Anything else you want to let people know about? I’ve got my big Super Bowl weekend and Celebrities for Charity. We’re having a big poker event at the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, along with my celebrity golf event. I got some friends of mine like Ken Griffey Jr. participating with me. It’s my time to give back and it’s for a great charity. OZONE MAG // 23