Antonio Tarver is talking a lot of smack about Roy Jones. This is nothing new. Tarver's mouth is what lured Jones into their upcoming November showdown. At the Jones-John Ruiz postfight press conference, Tarver incensed the light heavyweight champ by tauntingly accusing Jones of ducking him. Tarver's mouth got under Jones' skin, and now the two will get in a ring next month to let their fists do the talking.

Antonio has told me in the past that Roy has been ducking him for years. Tarver's claim is that when he was the mandatory contender in one of those ridiculous sanctioning bodies, Roy refused to fight him. The gist of our conversation went something like this:

Me: "But you lost to Eric Harding and he got the title shot. Roy beat the guy who beat you."

Tarver: "Yeah, but I should never have been forced to fight in an eliminator in the first place, because I was already the mandatory."

Me: "But being the mandatory in one of those ridiculous sanctioning bodies is not really a mandate to fight for the title. Harding had the best record of any non-Dariusz Michalczewski 175-pounder in the world. Michalczewski's people were not going to let him come over to the U.S. to fight Roy, and Roy was understandably worried about getting ripped off in Germany. So Harding was the de facto mandatory contender. And then he beat you, giving him an undeniable claim as the top available contender."

Tarver: "But I was the mandatory. I never should have had to fight Harding in the first place."

Me: "But you did fight him and you lost, and he got the shot. Then you beat Harding in a rematch and now you're getting the shot."

Tarver: "But why was I put in the situation where I had to fight Harding in the first place? I was the mandatory."

Me: "But you didn't deserve to be and that was proven in your fight against Harding."

Tarver: "But I should never have been put in the position where I had to fight Harding."

And on and on.

That conversation took place after Antonio had just dominated Montell Griffin over 12 rounds on the James Toney-Vassiliy Jirov undercard in April. Antonio and I went round for round about his career for at least an hour. He told me that he felt he was ignored by boxing's top fighters because he is too dangerous an opponent. I told him that he had been ignored by boxing's best because his performances had not created demand to see him fight, and that until the last 12-18 months, he had not compiled the kind of resume that would force media types like me to start shouting that he was in fact being ignored.

Over the last two years or so, however, Tarver has established himself beyond doubt as the best available 175-pound Roy Jones opponent. In Jan. 2002, he beat Reggie Johnson on points. Six months later Tarver avenged his defeat to Harding with a knockout win. Finally, in April of this year Tarver dominated Montell Griffin -- knocking him down twice en route to a shutout points win.

Antonio recently told Brian Kenny that with the exception of the Roy Jones-Montell Griffin rematch (in which Jones obliterated Griffin in one round), he, Antonio Tarver, fared better against Harding, Griffin and Johnson than Jones had.

Tarver was knocked down and decisioned by Eric Harding in their first fight, and lost the first three rounds in their rematch before catching and dropping Harding in the fourth and stopping him in the fifth. Jones also struggled against Harding, but was up on points when Harding's bicep injury forced his corner to throw in the towel. Jones won more rounds out of the 10 he fought against Harding than Tarver won in 17.

Roy did "lose" to Montell Griffin in their first fight. He was, however, ahead in a tough fight against Griffin, and was disqualified because he hit Griffin after he had knocked him down. Had there been no disqualification, Jones would have likely stopped Montell. Tarver dominated Griffin and deserves a lot of credit for it.

If Jones' return Griffin performance is left out of the equation, then Tarver is correct -- he was more dominant against Griffin than Jones. The same way the Soviets beat us with their space program -- if you take away our '69 moon landing.

Tarver looked good against Reggie Johnson. Roy Jones dominated Johnson in a way that boxing fans will tell their grandkids about. In fact, Jones landed one of the most impressive punches in boxing history against Johnson. With both fighters in the middle of the ring and in defensive positions, Jones threw the fastest power punch I have ever seen, felling Johnson like a tree. When I want to show non-boxing fans why Roy might be the best athlete on the planet, I play them that clip.

Tarver truly believes that he will beat Jones. He has constructed legalistic arguments for why it has taken so long for him to land a big fight, and why he will win that fight against the best fighter in boxing. He has talked himself into a corner -- and a big payday. He must now fight his way out.

Tarver is a huge underdog, and based on how both he and Jones have looked as professionals, Roy should dominate him. But Harding was dominating Tarver in their rematch, and it only took one Tarver shot to effectively end their fight.

Jones -- who normally takes very few risks, and is therefore usually impossible to hit -- is emotionally charged for Tarver in a way he has not been for any light heavyweight since Griffin in the rematch. Following that one round blowout, Roy said that the "loss" in their fight brought out his vicious alter ego, "RJ," for their second one.

RJ takes more risks than Roy and is therefore a more dynamic offensive fighter -- but also a more vulnerable one defensively. If Tarver has brought out RJ, it should be an easy fight for Jones. Easy, and dangerous.

Max Kellerman is a studio analyst for ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" and the host of the show "Around The Horn."