October 1, 2005. A Saturday night in Tampa. The air inside the St. Pete Times Forum—the "Ice Palace"—was thick, even with the AC cranked. People weren't just there to see a fight; they were there to see if a god could still bleed.
Roy Jones Jr. was that god. Or at least, he had been for about fifteen years. But by the time Roy Jones Jr vs Antonio Tarver 3 rolled around, the invincibility was gone. Poof. It had evaporated eighteen months earlier in Las Vegas when Tarver landed that "no excuses" left hook.
Honestly, this third fight is usually the one people forget. Everyone remembers the shocking KO in the second fight. Everyone remembers Roy looking "drained" in the first. But the third one? That was the funeral for Roy’s prime.
No Excuses: The Backdrop of the Trilogy
You’ve gotta understand where these guys were mentally. Tarver was basically the guy who ruined the party. He was a 1996 Olympian who spent his whole pro career in Roy’s shadow. Then, he finally gets his shot, loses a controversial decision, and follows it up by knocking Roy into next week.
Between fight two and fight three, Roy got starched again by Glen Johnson. It was brutal. Most experts thought Roy was "shot." You know that boxing term where a guy's chin just vanishes? That was the narrative.
So the bill for the rubber match was literally "No Excuses." No more talk about Roy losing 25 pounds after the John Ruiz heavyweight fight. No more talk about lucky punches. Just 12 rounds to see who the man was at 175 pounds.
The Fight: 12 Rounds of Tension
It wasn't a barnburner. If you're looking for Gatti vs. Ward, this isn't it. It was tense, tactical, and, frankly, a little sad to watch if you grew up a Roy Jones fan.
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Roy looked... hesitant. You could see the gears turning. He was trying to be the "technical" Roy, but the reflexes that allowed him to fight with his hands behind his back were gone. He was 36. In boxing years, with his style, that’s 100.
Tarver just controlled the distance. He used that long southpaw jab to keep Roy at bay. It’s funny because Tarver isn't much younger than Roy—only about two months separate them—but Tarver’s style aged like wine while Roy’s aged like milk.
The Stats That Tell the Story
Look at the punch counts. They don't lie.
- Antonio Tarver: Landed 158 of 620 (25%)
- Roy Jones Jr.: Landed 85 of 320 (27%)
Roy barely threw. He was waiting for openings that never came. He was looking for the counter-punch that would change his life, but Tarver was too disciplined.
The closest we got to a finish was in the 11th. Tarver cornered Roy and just started unloading. For a second, it looked like the Glen Johnson fight all over again. Roy covered up, survived, and actually landed a few body shots, but it was too little, too late.
The scorecards were pretty clear:
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- Peter Trematerra: 117-111 (Tarver)
- Michael Pernick: 116-112 (Tarver)
- Paul Herman: 116-112 (Tarver)
Unanimous. No controversy. No "bullshit" chants from the crowd this time.
The Father Factor
Here’s the weird part that most casual fans missed. Roy brought his dad back.
Roy Jones Sr. was the guy who basically built Roy in a lab, but they had a legendary falling out back in the 90s. For this fight, they tried to bury the hatchet. Big mistake. Roy later claimed the corner was "chaos." He said his dad was trying to take control from his long-time trainer, Alton Merkerson.
Imagine being in the biggest fight of your life and your corner is having a power struggle while you're trying to not get knocked out. Kinda hard to focus, right?
Why This Fight Still Matters in 2026
We talk a lot about "passing the torch" in sports. This wasn't a pass; it was a robbery. Tarver took everything Roy had left.
If you go back and watch the tape, you see the blueprint for beating an aging athletic freak. Tarver didn't try to out-speed Roy. He just occupied the space Roy wanted to move into. He was first with the jab and last with the hook.
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The Roy Jones Jr vs Antonio Tarver 3 fight was the moment the boxing world finally accepted that the 90s were over. The era of the "Superman" was done. Roy would go on to fight for another thirteen years, which is wild, but he was never a top-tier threat again. He became a name for young prospects to build their resumes on.
What You Can Learn From the Trilogy
If you're a boxing student or just a fan of the "Sweet Science," there are a few takeaways here that apply even today.
- Weight Matters: Roy’s move to heavyweight to beat Ruiz was historic, but the tax he paid to come back down to 175 was his chin and his stamina.
- Style vs. Substance: When athleticism fades, you need fundamentals. Tarver had them; Roy relied on being faster than everyone else. When he wasn't, he had no Plan B.
- Psychology of the Rematch: After being KO'd, Roy fought "scared." Not in the sense of being a coward—he's a warrior—but he fought with a mental brake on. He didn't want to get caught again.
If you want to understand the decline of an ATG (All-Time Great), don't just watch the knockouts. Watch the 12 rounds of the third Tarver fight. It’s a masterclass in how a smart, disciplined fighter can dismantle a legend who’s running on fumes.
Next time you're on a deep-dive on YouTube, look for the raw HBO broadcast. Watch the post-fight interviews. Tarver is jubilant, finally feeling like he's out from under the shadow. Roy is quiet, making excuses about his corner, looking like a man who knows the magic is gone but isn't ready to say it out loud.
Go watch the 11th round of that fight specifically. It’s the most "human" Roy Jones Jr. ever looked in a ring. No dancing, no posing, just a guy trying to survive the storm.
To really get the full picture of this rivalry, you should compare the punch output of this fight to Roy's fight against James Toney. The difference in volume is staggering and shows exactly how much the "heavyweight experiment" changed his physiology forever.