If somebody wanted to study and admire Taylor's technique and speed which fights which would be his best fights?
When he beat Davis. Up at welterweight his speed was incredible .Boxing news in the uk described him as a whirlwind.
His best win was Buddy Mcgirt whom was a very good and underrated fighter of the era. Mcgirt was coming off a stoppage of Howard Davis Jr. Who fought to a draw with Taylor. A few yrs earlier. But his best performance especially considering the caliber of the competition was the Chavez fight. A fight he was dominating, (At least most thought he was the night the fight actually happened, but when that fight is reviewed a few times, its easier too see Chavez was punishing him on the inside, and that Ko was inevitably, time was his biggest enemy in that fight. If it were 15rds ,Chavez wins with no controversy) until he got caught.
Was never real impressed with Davis (Aaron), so I'd have to go with McGirt as well. Or Meekins. 140, really, I think he really lost a lot moving up to 147, just a bridge too far for him. Love Taylor, one of those impossibly combative types whose defense was his never-ending offense. Couldn't punch to save his life, but if he didn't hurt you with his first 99 punches rest assured number 100 was coming.
Besides McGirt and Chavez I also liked seeing his performance against Jaime Balboa, Irleis Perez, and John Meekins. His brawler-mindset to go along with his incredible handspeed and flashy combinations made him such fun fighter to watch, despite his defensive flaws. He was like a mixture of SRL and Pryor without the punching power. I would also recommend checking out his fight against Howard Davis Jr. Even though that fight ended in a Draw (I had Taylor edging it) it was still an impressive showing for a 19 year old against a veteran like Davis. Good fight with lots of handspeed and skills in display.
Anything after Chavez was a damaged Taylor. Watch him vs Cubanito. And check out his bout vs Ramos- the first one. Your going to be shocked at how much more defensively sound he was.
Its so sad to see how his career went downhill after the Chavez fight even though he managed to win the WBA jr welterweight title. Even more saddening to see him in jail.
Love the McGirt performance. Buddy was a well schooled top notch fighter and was rendered impotent by Meldricks blazing speed. He looked like he was fighting in slo mo compared to Taylor and Meldricks workrate was almost as impressive as his speed. Buddy simply couldn't compete.
This was absolute prime Taylor. It was a sublime performance. Taylor gets underrated because of the Chavez loss and subsequent decline. But he is a monster matchup for many of the top 140 lb guys. I kind of scoff when guys like Tzyu are picked over him in hypothetical matchups.
