Antonio Tarver Jr. Looking to Make His Own Path

He sounds just like his dad. If you close your eyes and hear that familiar, cackling laugh, that’s his dad’s, too. Everything else, Antonio Tarver Jr. says, belongs to him.

Tarver Jr. knows the comparisons are inevitable to his famous dad, Antonio Tarver Sr., yet the southpaw junior middleweight with the modest 2-0 record says he is far different than his father.

Hopefully, the rest of the boxing world can judge for themselves and get a glimpse this Saturday night on ESPN, when Tarver Jr. takes on Julian Valerio in a four-round bout on the Keith Thurman-Luis Collazo Premier Boxing Champions undercard in Tampa, Florida. It’s undetermined whether or not Tarver Jr. will get his chance on TV. He’s certainly going to get it in the ring against Valerio, a 23-year-old from Brooklyn with a 2-3 (1 KO) record.

Related » Preview: PBC on ESPN ‘Thurman vs. Collazo’

At 27, with a relatively late start in boxing and little amateur experience, Tarver Jr. knows his clock is ticking fast. Tarver Sr. is 46 and about to become a grandfather, courtesy of Antonio Jr., and dad has kept a comfortable dis-tance as his son’s career has developed.

“It was my choice to go into boxing, because I was a basketball and football player growing up,” Tarver Jr. recent-ly told Sherdog.com. “I try not to put any pressure on myself because of the name. It’s not like my dad pushed me into boxing or pressured me to do it. I had my own trials and tribulations in other sports, and it didn’t work.”

There was a construction stint while going to school for a year. Then it hit Tarver Jr. at 19: Why not box-ing?

“I was around the sport my whole life and I always knew I could fight,” Tarver Jr. said. “I went to my father and told him I wanted to give it a shot. I’m 2-0 right now, and it was crazy because I sparred Keith Thurman during my training camp and I’ve only had 10 fights in my boxing career. I was in there training with him for six rounds and I’m still here. I gained a lot of experience. Boxing is something I chose.”

Tarver Jr. aspired to be in the NBA. He played for Daytona State Community College for a year, but at 5-foot-9, the NBA wasn’t exactly knocking on his door. That’s when the boxing bug bit him.

When he went to his father about it, Tarver Sr. initially had a tough time believing his son.

“When he told me he started training, it took me a while to go and lay eyes on him,” admitted Tarver Sr., who’s enjoyed a borderline Hall of Fame career. “When I realized he was serious, and this was something he really wanted to do, I went to see him spar and I was really blown away.”

Dad noticed how fast his son’s hands were. Dad noticed how poised his son was, how he fluidly moved about the ring. Dad also noticed something else: Junior fought lefty, though he’s naturally right-handed.

“He did everything on his own. I never spoke to him about touching up this or that. He did it, and I was proud of him for doing it,” Tarver Sr. said. “I’m proud of him anyway, but I knew this wasn’t an easy choice. What opened my eyes was seeing his skill level. He had me thinking he had hardly any amateur experience and he looked like a pro. It was natural ability he was fighting with. Now it’s time to add the experience.”

Dad didn’t want to chalk it up to genetics, though a good portion of his son’s ability has to be. Tarver Sr., who addresses his son as “Tarver,” came up a sinewy 6-foot-2 light heavyweight amateur star in the mid-1990s with the kind of body able to play multiple sports.

“I don’t want to take credit for anything with him. He’s done everything on his own,” dad said. “I want to help him, but I have to watch how much I get involved. It’s not easy. He’s my son. You want to do all of these things for him, but I have to let him be his own man. The sky is the limit for him. I just don’t want him to fall into the same pitfalls I had in my career. The one good thing is my son doesn’t have my vices. My son works hard and he’s focused. That’s what makes me feel good about his future. When fans see him, they’re going to love him, be-cause he has a fan-friendly style.”

Tarver Jr. knows the handicap he’s up against. His late introduction to the game will give almost everyone he fights an experience advantage. It doesn’t matter.

“I have to outwork and outthink everyone. I realize that I’m going to have to do that throughout my career,” Tarver Jr. said. “My father keeps reiterating that I’ll have to outthink these guys by saying, ‘Hey, Tarver, you need to work on this.’ I don’t know whether or not I’ll be on TV, but it will come in time.”

What the son can’t deny is that he carries the same DNA as his dad. And, the last time anyone looked, dad had a pretty nice career that’s still going.

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.