NEW YORK (AP) - Antonio Tarver had to tango by himself at the Copacabana.

Roy Jones Jr. was absent Tuesday from the Manhattan dance club, leaving Tarver to promote their "Tarver-Jones 3" bout on Oct. 1 for Tarver's IBO light heavyweight title.

"We're getting a 50-50 split, but I'm doing all the leg work," said Tarver, who had to pose for photos with a fist aimed at a placard bearing Jones' name. "I've got to talk to my agent and restructure."

Promoters did announce the venue for the event - the St. Pete Times Forum in Tarver's hometown of Tampa, Florida.

Late-night negotiations for the venue supposedly kept Jones training in Pensacola, Florida, rather than taking an early morning flight to New York.

"He wanted to focus more on training," said Brad Jacobs, a Jones adviser. "Every fight is important, but this fight is brutally important. The outcome will dictate the future of his career."

In the rubber match, Jones looks to reclaim his light heavyweight supremacy.

Tarver registered a devastating second-round knockout against Jones in May 2004 to keep the WBC and IBO titles. Jones won the first bout in a close 12-round decision in November 2003 to win the championships.

Tarver, 23-3 with 18 knockouts, scored a one-punch knockout of Jones in the second fight. He landed only seven total, but a left-handed shot stopped Jones at 1:41 of the second round.

"It was one of those perfect punches," Tarver said. "Will I be fortunate enough to hit him with that punch again? I don't know...I think it will be a more competitive fight."

Jones, 49-3 with 38 KOs, lost to Glen Johnson just four months after that fight. Since then, he's been working as a television analyst for boxing matches on the U.S. cable channel Home Box Office (HBO).

Tarver has split fights with Johnson, winning a 12-round decision in June to recapture the IBO light heavyweight title.

The 36-year-old fighters first met as 13-year olds, and return to Florida to fight each other professionally for the first time in their home state. The two previous fights were held at Mandalay Bay hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

Tarver credits Jones, considered by many as the best fighter of the last decade, for approaching him about the rematch.

";I take my hat off to Roy," he said. "It's been said he never pursued tough fights and ducked tough opponents. Roy Jones is a proud man, he's not going to take two defeats lightly.

"This gives him vindication and redemption. I'm the only man that can give that to him. I'm going to do everything in my power so that victory escapes him."