So, how did this dude beat Hopkins twice, and then lose to Pavlik twice - who Hopkins absolutely raped when they fought? Not to mention being KO'd by Carl ****ing Froch.... Biggest fall-off ever in boxing, in such a shot time period?
Because he didn't really beat Hopkins to begin with. If anybody watch both of their fights you can clearly see it. They gave those fights to Taylor and that's why he's been losing because he was overhyped after those fights.
For me, Taylor's wins over Hopkins were very closely contested & I would not have complained had the verdict gone to B-Hop in either bout! However, Taylor won & no one can take that away from him. He got the win against a marvelous fighter in Hopkins! However, like many fighters, I believe Taylor reached the pinnacle by beating Hopkins twice. He hasn't shown quite the same form since, although he looked very competent against Froch even though he was knocked out in the end! Taylor is a quality fighter, but has seen better days! If they fought at LHW now, I would favour Hopkins to beat Taylor!
Styles make fights. Taylor is a boxer. B-Hop is a counter-puncher. Couter-punchers look for openings. Boxers don't leave many openings; they get in the right range and throw precise, fast punches. Hence, B-Hop lost to Taylor. However, boxers like Taylor like a slow pace and room for manoeuvre. Pavlik charged Taylor down, used his jab and turned up the heat. Hence, Taylor lost to Pavlik. Pavlik hasn't got a great defence or movement, and isn't that fast. Hence, he's exposed to counter-punching and flurrying, and he lost to B-Hop. Or Hopkins was jobbed and Pavlik was ill.
At the same time boxers eventually start landing good punches and Taylor barley did against Hopkins.(who also took his jab away) He was awarded with being more active in the rounds he won not because he outboxed Hopkins. And Hopkins clearly landed the bigger shots in both fights, especially the first fight were he totally dominated Taylor the last 4 rounds of the fight. Now I do understand what your saying about the styles, and how they make fights but the advantages Taylor had stylisticly, showed how versatile B-Hop is on the other had to be able to adapt to those situations and it clearly proves that Taylor is no where on Hopkins radar. The Pavlik fight reproves it.
Taylor didn't really "beat" Hopkins. He got a couple of HBO-influenced GIFTS. In fact, Taylor never really beat ANY top fighter clearly.
You cannot show a bunch of defensive flaws against Pavlik, nor should you allow him to make it a jabbing contest. Taylor did both. Put that with the fact that Steward grossly underestimated Pavlik, and that's why Jermain lost. Taylor lost to Froch because Ozell Nelson doesn't know what's going on in the ring, and JT took Ozell's advice to heart. Nelson told Taylor he needed the last two rounds BIG. Consequently when JT should have been looking to run out the clock, he was trying to knock Froch out. I agree totally with those who think Taylor should have stayed with Burns.
Agreed. He was very overhyped and was a very poor champion during his reign. He simply wasn't that good a fighter to begin with so the dropoff after so many hard fights is not very surpising.
