INDIANAPOLIS -- Light heavyweight Antonio Tarver stopped Eric Harding in the fifth round of a scheduled 10-rounder Saturday on the undercard of the Vernon Forrest-Shane Mosley WBC welterweight championship.

Avenging an earlier loss to Harding, Tarver roused himself from a lackluster performance in the first three rounds, hammering Harding in the fourth with a series of overhand lefts that floored Harding.

Harding looked like he was finished, but he was saved by the bell just as referee Bill Paige was about to let action resume.

In the fifth, Tarver, 33, of Orlando, knocked Harding down with another overhand left. Tarver screamed at Paige to stop the fight, but Paige gave Harding a standing eight count and let it continue.

Not for long, though. When Harding got up, Tarver hit him with two more lefts and he went down again, Paige stopping it 43 seconds into the round.

Tarver, whose lone loss came in a June 2000 decision at the hands of Harding, boosted his record to 20-1.

Harding, 29, of Philadelphia, dropped to 21-2-1.

"I just showed the world that I'm the best in my division,'' Tarver said. "I knocked out Eric Harding, something Roy Jones couldn't do.''