The talent and skill were always there, but I took shortcuts, ... If I made weight, I thought I was in shape. I won my first sixteen fights on talent alone. Then I fought Eric Harding. That was a wake-up call. He broke my jaw. I knew I was hurt bad. There was pain from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head. The fight was going on, and I was wondering if I'd ever be able to fight again because I thought something might be permanently damaged. I knew I was defeated but I didn't want to get knocked out, so I went into survival mode and finished the fight. Then, after the loss, I asked myself, 'How bad do I want it What am I willing to do to get it' I started taking better care of my body and working harder. I worked my way back to being the number-one contender. I could have just sat back and waited for a title shot. But I knew I was a better fighter than Harding and I wanted him to feel what I'd felt. So I signed to fight a rematch against him and knocked him out.
More Quotes from Antonio Tarver:
Roy had a lot of resistance, ... playing chess all around. He was beat by a better fighter. Period. I passed my test. I did my homework.Antonio Tarver
When I show up ready and prepared, I'm undefeated. I've never lost. I'm hard-headed in some ways and have to learn my lesson the hard way, ... It's the best lesson learned, unfortunately, but it costs you.
Antonio Tarver
I don't know where his psyche is but if I had a guy beating down on my door like that, a thorn in my ass for so long and then the way things turned out, I think that you could say I broke his psyche, yes. Because I never looked at him as the great Roy Jones Jr., the immortal champion, the guy that was unbeatable, unstoppable. I never looked at him like that. I always looked at him outta my eyes. And when I looked at him I saw him as a regular person. Just a man. And that's why I was able to go in there and have the confidence - and to know if I got the opportunity - I would be revered as the best fight he's ever faced. He was coming off of winning the heavyweight championship of the world when he faced Antonio Tarver. So I know, excuses aside, he hadn't faced a real fighter until he faced me.
Antonio Tarver
Rocky is coming back. The movie is going to be on a big stage in boxing. Rocky has never fought a real champion, and I'm not going to tell you the outcome of the movie, but I ain't used to losing,
Antonio Tarver
I wasn't going to let it go to the scorecards and I knew I had already played that game before, and there is nothing fair in the game of boxing. I learned that the hard way,
Antonio Tarver
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Based on Topics: Mastery & Expertise QuotesBased on Keywords: harding, number-one, rematch
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