Did the Taylor fight cement Chavez's legacy

For an ordinary 135lb fighter, it would be a landmark victory. But for Chavez its another win in a long line of wins, notable only for its dire circumstances and dramatic ending

 

Only thing it did for me and knowledgeable fight fan is expose Taylor. For all his many gift's in a boxing ring, he was to easy to hit . And I knew prior to the Chavez fight it would cost him sooner, rather than later.

 

I think Chavez had an amazing legacy even before the Taylor fight. But, the way he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Taylor elevated him to mythological status among the All Time Greats.

 

Already great. But this brought him much more into the mainstream eye because of its ending. One only had to closely look at Taylor to see the brutal beating he would never fully recover from.
This fight certainly gave him the attention he deserved.

 

Some of the threads on this forum are a bit one-sided and crappy. That's not up for debate. Just a fact. But this recent Chavez-taylor obsession on the forum... Everyone has such wonderful points. I just want to watch it again.

 

It's like the Hagler-Leonard decision, you'll never get unanimous agreement on it and both sides have valid arguments, whichever side of the fence you personally sit on.

 

You're one of the most even headed posters, I would venture to opine. Incidentally, I had Hagler by a round but have zero problem either way. I had Chavez just being edged out, but am ambivalent on the stoppage (my father got me into boxing in the eubank, benn era... Couple of tragedies have moulded my thinking).

 

Chavez was a great fighter at 130 and 135 .. starting with 140 he was just as lucky and well promoted as he was good .. the Taylor fight should never have been stopped and if it wasn't Chavez loses. He lost to Whitaker. He lost to Randall and then was part of a horrific theft to take that title back with no immediate rubber match .. then he went on to quit in the Camacho rematch .. when King started to foucs of Chavez while Tyson was away , Julio became a huge disappointment , the Canelo of his day as far as being pampered and catered to ..

 

'Cement' his legacy is a good way to put it. It was a great moment in boxing history. He showed who he was in that fight. It was also a polarizing fight with fans. That's why we saw Taylor (and the Duvas) run away from a rematch and try hide at 147. Suddenly in his prime he couldn't make the weight anymore. LOL. Then later when he had been beaten several more times he could make '40 again. Taylor had nothing to lose by then.

 

Taylor suffered a broken eye socket, broken ribs, badly busted up face, had a lot of blood pumped from his stomach, was ****ing blood for weeks and was in hospital for almost 2 weeks following the fight. Taylor
got destroyed deal with it.

 

Right an Dempsey's left hook crushed Willards face in .. I suppose you changed his bed pans too ..

Taylor got robbed. Everyone criticized Steele at the time and it became his legacy. Taylor was reacting to a super animated Duva and the ref jumped the gun in a fight where the defending champ was way ahead on points.. Of course he was tired .. he beat Chavez like no one over did before .. he was bloodied and puffy but up and coherent and got jobbed .. listen to the HBO crew react in shock.

 

Your last sentence tells it all.

Meldrick Taylor took a terrible beating. Maybe the HBO crew didn` want to acknowledge what Chavez was doing on the inside but Richard Steele was closer to it than anyone. He saw the damage, he Taylor swallowing his own blood for most of the fight. His job was to protect the fighter. Not to be a timekeeper.

There many in the American media that blamed Steele. Perhaps some American bias. It`s faulty reasoning. Blame Duva if you want or better yet blame Taylor for not fighting smarter, especially in that last round. Why didnt he move? Chavez had beaten him so badly to the body and head that I dont think he could have moved if he wanted to.

That was a great win and Chavez earned that one.

 

That's one of my favorite fights of all time. Chavez is so calm and business like as he takes out Taylor with seconds left.