Photo by Przemek Garczarczyk/PBC
Scheduled for four rounds, Antonio Tarver Jr. (3-0, 2 KOs) climbed the three steps against last minute substitute and fellow Tampa resident Oscar Gonzalez (9-12-1, 3 KOs).
After a good opening stanza, Tarver turned up the heat in the second round, ripping shots to Gonzalez’s ribs and head which clearly hurt him.
Gonzalez was dropped with a delayed reaction early in the third round and after subsequent effective combinations it appeared T2 was about to terminate his rival.
Gonzalez showed heart however and forced himself to throw enough combinations to keep Tarver from completely running over him.
In the fourth and final round a clearly gassed Gonzalez had little to offer and in the final seconds was clipped with a volley of punches that had him in serious trouble.
He narrowly survived the round and Tarver remained easily remained undefeated.
