Jones Stopped but Puts Off Retiring

Antonio Tarver raised his arms in triumph and climbed up on the ropes. Roy Jones Jr. smiled, gave his corner a high-five with his glove and admitted he was beaten by a better fighter.

Tarver retained his IBO light heavyweight title Saturday night with a unanimous 12-round decision over Jones in front of a sellout crowd of 20,895 in Tampa, Fla., his second victory over his longtime rival in 16 months.

“He came to reclaim his throne, but it wasn’t happening tonight,” Tarver said.

Tarver won the title in May 2004 with a stunning second-round knockout of the former world champion in four weight classifications. He nearly dropped him again when he hurt Jones with a right hand in the 11th round but couldn’t finish him off.

“I was good, but not good enough,” Jones said. “I’m satisfied with my performance, and I realize I lost the fight.”

Tarver improved to 24-3 in a career that has taken off in the last three years. Jones dropped to 49-3 and has lost his last three fights -- two by knockout.

The bout was the third between the rivals in less than two years -- fourth overall if you count an amateur meeting.

Jones had hoped to rebound from the knockout losses to Tarver and Glen Johnson that raised questions about whether he should retire. Tarver’s right in the 11th sent him reeling into the ropes, and the champion closed in to try to end the fight but appeared to tire.

“He caught me with a good shot, and I think that was the turning point in the fight,” Jones said, adding that he had not made a decision on retiring.

“I’m a true champion,” he said. “Being the champion I am, I may come back. ... If I hadn’t gotten hurt, I would retire. But you saw me, I kept coming.”

The judges scored the fight 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112 in favor of Tarver, who threw 620 punches to Jones’ 320. The champion landed 158, and Jones landed 85 -- or about seven per round.

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Fighting for the first time since being stripped of his WBA title for testing positive for steroids, James Toney dominated Dominick Guinn over 12 rounds at Reno to set himself up for another possible heavyweight title shot.

That could come against Chris Byrd (39-2), who retained his IBF title with a unanimous decision over DaVarryl Williamson (22-4) on the same card in a fight booed constantly for its lack of action.

Meanwhile, two judges scored Toney’s fight 119-109, and a third had it 117-111. Associated Press scored it 118-110.

It was the first fight for Toney since he was stripped of the title he won from John Ruiz on April 30.

Toney improved to 69-4-2, and Guinn dropped to 25-3-1.