Tarvis Simms Plans to Look 'Marvelous' Against Allan Green

Aging southpaw Tarvis Simms will put his unbeaten record on the line Friday night opposite Allan Green in a scheduled, 10-round super middleweight fight as the main event of ShowBox: The New Generation.

Simms takes a record of 25-0-1 with 11 knockouts into their bout, which will take place in Newkirk, Okla., near Tulsa, the hometown of Green (28-1, 20 KOs).

Each of the competitors had to make a late adjustment leading up to the fight.

Simms, 38, from Norwalk, Conn., skipped rope in the hallway Thursday just moments after weighing in slightly over contracted weight of 168.8 pounds, but was able to get there.

Meanwhile Green, 30, who weighed 167.6, had to accept Simms as a last-minute replacement when Victor Oganov (28-1, 28 KOs) came down with an injury.

But Green said he has fought left-handers three times in his career, all victories, "and they were all on short notice too," he said.

"At first, I was supposed to fight a shorter, Russian (Oganov) before he got hurt, and now I'm fighting a southpaw," said Green, nicknamed "Sweetness."

"I had to change up my game plan a little bit, but the outcome is not going to change," said Green, who stands 6-foot-1 to Simms' 5-9. "It's always important to make a statement, and Friday night will be no different."

Simms, nicknamed "Marvelous," said going into Green's backyard is nothing new to him, and neither is the fact that he is fighting a man who is younger and taller than he is.

"I know I'm coming in as the underdog. It's kind of like the Antonio Tarver-Roy Jones fight. Roy Jones was expected to dominate the fight. I have to do what Tarver did and pull off the upset," said Simms, referring to Tarver's second-round KO of Jones.

"I know people aren't picking me to win, but that's why I'm going to go out there and shock the world," said Simms. "My last four fights were against talented young men and I made them look they were the older ones."

Green's only loss was to then, once-beaten contender Edison Miranda, whom he floored in the eighth round only to be knocked down twice during the 10th of a unanimous decision loss in March of 2007.

"People think I'm coming in here as a late replacement and I won't give him a good fight. Well, they're badly mistaken because I will come out victorious. I don't think Allan's going to show me anything that I haven't seen before," Simms said.

"I think he's very talented," Simms said. "This is a big opportunity for me and I want to put on a great performance so hopefully they'll have me back."

In another fight, Henry Crawford (22-0-1, nine KOs) of Paterson, N.J., meets "The Truth" Antwone Smith (16-1-1, eight KOs) of Miami in a 10-round welterweight matchup.

Also, Houston's Marcus "Too Much" Johnson (17-0, 14) takes on Victor Villereal (8-3-2, four) of Longmont, Colo., in another supermiddleweight clash.