Sportsfrog.com

With apologies to a certain Doctor in NYC, boxing has become a soap opera like mess. With more sanctioning bodies than Presidential candidates, it has become impossible to keep track who isn’t a champion in some weight class approved by some alphabetical organization. I keep waiting for the WADD organization to come foward because I drift off before I can pay attention. That brings us to the latest piece of flotsam.

When Antonio Tarver faced Bernard Hopkins last June, it was obvious from the outset that it wouldn’t be his night. Hopkins bullied a lethargic Tarver all over the ring, knocked him down in the fifth round and took the light heavyweight championship on a virtual shutout decision.



Now, as Tarver (24-4, 18 KOs) prepares for his return to the ring a year later to face Elvir Muriqi (34-3, 21 KOs) on June 9 in Hartford, Conn., he says he believes he was drugged before the fight with Hopkins.

I will start to begin to respect boxing when a fighter steps foward and just admits he got his ass kicked. Especially after he hasn’t retired six times previously.