Who would have won a 15 round middleweight title fight between Jermain Taylor and Emile Griffith? My thoughts are that Taylor would have had the upper hand up until round 10, then the old 15 round master Griffith would have snatched the fight away from Taylor, working him over in close and landing his always underrated overhand right over Taylor's jab, and asserting his superior strength to win on points...agree/disagree?
Yes..you'd think that Taylor's people would have bargained furiously for a reduction in rounds to 12. It's almost unfair, because Jermain sure as hell ain't knocking out Griffith.
What are you referring to? He had this as a thread topic already? I'm not gonna go through all the pages of the forum to see if a thread of mine has already been done...anyone who wants to post here on this can, if it's passe and redundant, then this thread can just sink into the Classic thread graveyard.
Taylor isn´t in Griffith class, he probably has a slight advantage in strength and power but that´s it. Emile would make him look average and win a clear decision in a fight that´s only in the first third a bit competative.
I know Taylor has gained a reputation for fading late (and not wrongly), but looking at his work against Hop's and Winky I see a guy who may have been able to opperate for 15 rds. had he trained for them. I don't think Jermain was ever able to tap into all of his potential (if it truely existed), but I think he could be competitive with Griffith over 12 or 15 at his best...I lean towards Griffith, but would not be anymore shocked to see Jermain pull out a decision here than I was in real life when he did! Dumb pick- Griffith destroys him and Jermain does not belong in the ring with him! Safe pick- Griffith by decision Logical pick- Griffith by decision or stoppage from 13-15 Sound underdog pick- Jermain nips a controversial decision as he had a tendancy to do in real life! MY PICK- Competitive fight Griffith takes it on points, by Jermain is able to keep it close and interesting!!!
In a 10 round bout, it would be possible for Taylor to steal a decision from Griffith..as Stanley Kitten Hayward did long ago..only to be beaten in a return like Griffith did with The Kitten in their rematch...but in a 15 rounder I believe that Griffith would have been in his natural element vs Taylor and would have won..Taylor didn't have the attributes of Nino Benvenuti, for example, whose style blessed with a bit of pop on his punches, was able to beat Griff in 2 out of 3..and just barely in the rubber match..Griff finished much stronger..and it was Nino's kd of Emile in the 9th that was the deciding factor.
