How good was Jermaine Taylor in his prime?

That score is acceptable .

What rubbed me the wrong way , is Wright acting as if he COMPLETELY dominated 9 rounds straight in that fight when it was a very close fight .

And a fighter of his caliber should know better then take the final 12th rnd off in a championship fight where he himself was the challenger , NOT the champion .

He brought that "L" upon himself .


I

 

Jones/Calzaghe needed to happen. I remember then, people on forumslike this were actually giving Jones a good shot because of his power and claiming he was back to form, he still couldn't be outboxed and that it was only huge punchers that could beat him, which Joe wasn't. But you know, history gets rewritten.

And Jones actually did marginally better against Hopkins than Pavlik.And really, Jones is still a legend with a strong name, while Pavlik has become a "where are they now" case.

 

Pavlik was dropped before the Taylor fight.

 

Taylor was largely an HBO creation. They hyped him to be the next great fighter, and superstar of the sport, when it was always apparent he was too flawed to ever remain at the top.

People on here saying he was skilled have no idea what skills are. Taylor had a good jab. That's about it. His technique was sloppy, his footwork was pathetic, he had a **** defense, and couldn't fight AT ALL on the inside.

That's not a "skilled" fighter.

Both Hopkins wins were questionable, he got a gift over Wright, struggled with Kassim Ouma, and arguably lost to Spinks.

He was an HBO hype machine.

He was better than Khan though, for whatever that's worth.......

 

'HBO creations' don't go 36 consecutive rounds, and at worse, split those rounds, against 2 Top 5 p4p fighters.

Just doesn't happen.

 

Agreed, but I still didn't like the decision.

Wright had a thing for shooting himself in the foot...often. He ruined his own career after the Taylor and Hopkins fights by just not accepting offers.

If I was part of his team, I would have given him an ear full.

 

He was very athletic, the best package one 160 pounds could pack in at 6ft1 1/2'', fast assertive jab, punishing work to the body, dangerous looping volleys upstairs. Had discipline under Pat Burns and Ozzel Nelson and became well represented by Lou Di Bella out of his hole in Little Rock in the State of Arkansas where ex-president Bill Clinton comes from. But he started showing some flaws when he defeated former titlist William Joppy and made veteran Raul Marquez take a knee and quit and even when demolished Daniel Edouard in three and from mid range. Jermain, a polished boy who was the father figure of a large family with plenty of sisters, and never stepping out of the line, started to go over aggressive and over anxious in the ring and that showed in the technical traits - Bernard noticed how he used to pull the right arm back when he jabbed ( the arching bow) and usually get outa position to follow up with a right cross... At first, he did hide that, going to the body and using his body strength but even in Hopkins-Taylor I and by the sixth withering right hands were passing thru his arms and chin checking him and the same happened in the rematch - the judges valued the jab, a smashing assertive, double jab which gave him a 115-113 score on all 3 judges cards. Then almost he fell for a sneaky lefty pressure in Winky Wright who most feel took the title in Memphis (115-113, 113-115.114-114, three way split dec draw), two wins on points against former welters in Kassim Ouma and Cory Spinks, the fall to Pavlik in 7, the fall by unanimous decision in the rematch to Pavlik, one win at SMW against another fallen fighter in Jeff Lacy and then two consecutive 12th round TKO losses to Carl Froch in Connecticut and to Arthur Abraham in Berlin in the 1st round of the Showtime Super Six which he left right after.

 

Basically correct. A little severe in some descriptions - but worded to make a clear and definitive statement.

Taylor was good athletically - in general - and definitely in relation to what existed in the sport during his era - but his boxing weaknesses were far too pronounced vis-a-vis his strong points. Simply not an innate boxer, not well schooled (or at least not well learned), and not cerebral or tactical in the ring.

 

Im not homophobic or anything. But a boxer with Gay in both his first and last name doesnt sound too good...:think

 

Let's face it, people liked Taylor. He was a nice guy, came from a small town in AR and came off as not being full of himself. I think he was a better fighter than many are saying here. Some better advice in the ring might have helped like when he was stopped in the last round by Froch. He should have known to take a knee. If he had, he would have won the fight. Taylor only lost 4 fights in his career, twice to Pavlik, Abraham and Froch. And Pavlik was at the peak of his game at that time, and Pavlik was a big puncher.

I think some of you need to cut JT some slack.

 

JT foyght everybody. Took on Winky and Spinks. That says it all.

 

JT fought everyone.

Today if he was prime? He would destroy quillin. KO martinez. Could step up to SMW and beat chavez and froch.

gets ko'd by GGG.

 

Gaydar lol

 

Jim Lampley was cringeworthy when it came to Taylor's fights. I don't think he had a man-crush on him like he did Cotto and especially Barrera, but he was being an HBO shill. He would do the same thing for Khan as well when they were trying to make him a star.

 

Taylor beat Hopkin's arse.................