Would Meldrick Taylor have given any fighter with the same reach a close fight?

People forget how good Mel was.
You leave out the fact that he beat the crap out of unbeaten Aaron Davis who was 5'9 with a 70 inch reach.
Harold Brazier was 5'9 with a 73 inch reach.
Howard Davis was 5'8 with a 72 inch reach.

Let me clue you in on something: after the first JCC fight Taylor was never the same.
Do you know why he even fought Terry ?
Lou Duva and company knew Taylor was damaged goods. He barely got by Garcia and was in a life and death fight with Brown so Duva knew Mel didn't have too much left but was still a draw.
So they cashed him out vs Norris. It was a big money fight and Taylor never had a chance at winning.
Espana was a very talented boxer based in Ireland.
But that fight was so sad because Mel was absolutely shot to bits.

 

Dooran would have stopped him so nooooooooo.

 

When I saw Taylor beat Mcgirt back in 88’ I thought I was looking at the next Leonard. He was beauty in motion and an exceptionally talented fighter. But like you say, the Chavez beating and let down along with pushing the envelope with weight jumping did him in

 

The problem with Taylor was he always wanted to trade too much and he never was an exceptional puncher. So he would get hit when in reality he didn't have to.
He beat the crap out of Buddy and it was a masterclass.
He was beating Chavez only to be stopped late.
He did beat Davis who was a very good fighter.
But after Chavez he was done.
Moving up in weight when you really don't have much punching power and you like to trade is a recipe for disaster.
I knew he was going to get massacred when he signed for Norris. And I knew that was a cash out fight - get one last big payday.

 

Regarding the Espana fight. I knew his trainer pretty well and asked him what he thought the weekend before the fight. They were very very confident in the win. Espana was 3-1 to win that fight, even though it was common knowledge Taylor was not the same man, and i know there were a few people took advantage of that price. Except me, i had to be greedy and stuck it in a double with Razor to beat Lewis in the main event. The only time i ever bet against Lewis, never again

 

He did have a lot of trouble getting inside tall opponents if that’s what you’re alluding to then good point.

 

I'm old enough to remember Julio destroying him.