NEW YORK (KRT) – Almost from the day that Antonio Tarver left the 1996 Olympic Games with a bronze medal, he was chasing Roy Jones Jr. It took eight years of stalking, a comeback from a broken jaw and a loss to Eric Harding, becoming the No. 1 light heavyweight contender across the board and perfect timing for Tarver to get even close to Jones.

Tarver narrowed the gap more when he lost a controversial decision to Jones in their first match in November of 2003. He pulled even when he KO’ed Jones in stunning fashion in the second round of their rematch. But Tarver didn’t completely overtake and pass Jones as the preeminent light heavyweight in boxing until Glencoffe Johnson knocked out Jones back in September.

Tarver and Johnson, the two men who knocked out Jones in the same calendar year, will meet at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday night in the last significant boxing match of 2004. Light heavyweight Andre Ward, the only gold medal winner on the 2004 U.S. Olympic boxing team, will make his pro debut on the undercard.

It will be Tarver’s night and his special showcase. Tarver (22-2, 18 KOs) will step into a boxing ring, and for the first time in his professional career, won’t fall under the enormous shadow of Jones. And if he defeats Johnson (41-9-2, 28 KOs), Tarver can finally become “the man” in the light heavyweight division.

At 36, success has come late in his career, but Tarver is basking in the glow of his work against Jones.

“When I look back I wouldn’t change a thing because it built character,” Tarver said. “It really showed me how bad I wanted to be champion and how bad I wanted to be amongst the elite. I wasn’t gonna take no for an answer..”

There won’t be any world titles at stake tonight because Tarver and Johnson both relinquished their belts to make the match. Tarver gave up the WBC belt and Johnson gave up the IBF belt.

Joe DeGuardia, Tarver’s promoter, said Tarver is universally recognized as the best light heavyweight in the sport and doesn’t really need a title belt to certify him.

“The proliferation of the titles has changed the value of holding a world title belt,” DeGuardia said. “With Antonio it’s a matter of, “Does the boxer make the title or does the title make the boxer?’ By beating Roy he’s got the real title.”

Tarver baited Jones into fighting him the first time by showing up at Jones’ post-fight press conference after Jones had beaten John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title. It was the crowning moment of Jones’ career and Tarver stood in the back of the room calling Jones a coward for not fighting him.

“I had to go to into his backyard after he captured the world by winning the heavyweight championship,” Tarver said. “I told the world then, “Roy you might be standing tall today but we all know that you did not take a step (up) in competition. Rather, you took a step down. You are avoiding the biggest challenge.’ “

Tarver knows he is taking a big risk against Johnson, who has been stopped only once in his career, and that was as a middleweight by Bernard Hopkins. But Tarver knows that the stakes have gone up tremendously since he beat Jones.

“My dream does not begin and end with Roy Jones,” Tarver said. “You are looking at history in the making. When it is all said and done I want the world to recognize Antonio Tarver as one of the best, one of the greatest that ever lived.”