Julio Caesar Chavez Vs Meldrick Talyor (From the Jaws of Defeat)

The biased commentators were constantly saying that Taylor was doing far more damage with his punches until Taylor's face began to look like a gargoyle's. Then they decide to stop.

 

Taylor never impressed me. Powder puff puncher. His face was destroyed in this fight. He may have been ahead on points but was wayyyy behind on hurt.

 

I thought he was an excellent fighter for a short period of time, but all that talk about him an ATG in the making if not for Chavez I disagree with.

I don't think his career really would have been that much different. He still has trouble making 140, goes up in weight, wins a title against Aaron Davis, and is surrounded by a lot of talent at 147, where his limtations and weaknesses would be exposed.

Taylor definitely took a ton of punishment in this fight, and I suspect a lot in Philly gym wars too. Chavez opened a cut in the 2nd round inside Taylor's mouth with a right hand over a lazy Taylor left, then a short left hook inside. Taylor was winning thanks to his insane speed and workrate, but was taking hard shots throughout.

 

Gold medalist. Two division champion. Came within seconds (and one of the most controversial stoppages of all time) of winning a big UD over a stronger, more powerful ATG warrior of an opponent but he never impressed you.

 

Taylor lit Chavez up like no other before, or really since. Meldrick looked like the phenom he was portrayed at the time. That's called talent right there.

 

No never did. The fact that you are impressed by him bolsters my opinion.

 

The ref was following the rules. No response calls for a stoppage.

BTW
In the rematch it was the same thing again. The ref asked if he was OK and he said "Huh?" and it was stopped.

 

I wouldn't have stopped the fight but I'm fine with Richard Steele's decision. Either way, it doesn't diminish the fact that Taylor was one of the most talented boxers in the world or detract from his stellar performance that night.

 

He was under obligation to stop it. It wasn't a matter of personal choice. Those are the rules. Yes, Meldrick displayed blinding speed and exceptional athleticism as usual. Unfortunately for him, the quality of his punches were not those of Chavez who also put on a stellar performance of a different type.

 

HBO did the same when Curry fought McCallum. They were saying Donald is doing great and Mike's punches don't look good, and I saw Mike working Donald over and landing good body punches.

 

Great fight. If I was Jim Lampley or Larry Merchant I would want this tape destroyed. They embarrassed themselves. Yes Taylor was fighting well. His speed was evident but he kept in range of Chavez basically waiting for the receipt as Gil Clancy would have said. Even after Meldrick scored Chavez landed in return and his punches were real heavy handed blows. Meldrick Taylor`s punches somewhat slappy.

 

Never demonstrated enough boxing talent to impress Perry.

 

Taylor had fast hands but could not break an egg with his punches. A slapper.