I don't think Jermain's biggest problem was his stamina or his seeming inabilty to stop a straight right. His biggest problem was the constant trainer changes. The stamina and defense are things Pat burns could have fixed, or at least improved. I think it's great that he'll be back with Burns. That tells me that he probably did a fairly honest self assessment of his situation. When I found out JT would be in the S-6 the first thing I said was, "He needs to get back with Burns if he wants a real chance to win." Right now middleweight is ripe for the picking. It's just a question if whether or not Taylor can return to something like top form. JT in top form, with Pat Burns running his camp and in his corner, doesn't lose to any current middleweight.
If he is going to do this, I hope he proves us wrong. That said, there is a reason DiBella wouldn't promote him any more. He had to feel that retirement was the correct move for Jermain. Be safe Jermain.....
I like JT. He's got skills. Just needs to keep his hands up and his chin tucked in and he could be top 5 MW in less than 5 fights.
Im quite excited tbh . Always been a JT fan,never ducked anyone and fought anybody when he was champ . How can you not like the guy ?
But Hermit -- JT never said he was retiring. He always said he was just taking a break. As long as they don't match him with any big punchers before they have too he should be fine. In addition, his ability to handle big punchers should improve under Burns. It's probably important to remember what started Jermain's decline: Manny Steward! His effort to revamp JT's style was a total failure, and his failure to realize Pavlik was a serious challenge was ridiculous.
I disagree. JT has footwork and mental issues. Steward didn't ruin him. He was always flawed. It just took a certain style of fighters to expose this. JT has terrible defense. He has terrible footwork. He has no lateral movement and can't turn guys. His defense is to just cover up and go straight back. That's why straight ahead punchers are able to get to him. I don't know if this is something that can be fixed at this point in his career. It would be great if it was corrected but i doubt it. He's probably going to be the same guy, maybe a tad slower. But i'm sure he'll still have that blazing combination punching, which is fun to watch. He'll still give outboxers trouble.
The way I see it , he got two freebees with BHop and one with Winkey, fought a couple bums and then got crushed by Pavlick ,Froch, and Abraham. That spells lay down and stay down to me.
I don't want to see Pavlik vs. Taylor 3. Pavlik needs to prove he can beat guys other than Taylor at this point, and we know Taylor was stopped by pavlik, why fight him again and risk being stopped. Move on to Sturm or Chavez Jr.
I did not say Steward ruined Taylor. I said Steward started his decline. Your post actually supports my position. Steward did not do anything to improve JT's flaws. Under Steward's tutelage they got worse.