Meldrick Taylor vs Hector Camacho @ 140

Taylor UD.

 

Taylor, clearly.

 

delete

 

Camacho...quality over slop. Hector had a better chin too.

 

Camacho on points.

 

At 140? Meldrick.

Beat McGirt. Was within 2 seconds of beating prime Chavez...

At 140, how did Camacho fare against a Chavez who was maybe on the start of the slide?

P4P? I'd say the 130lb Camacho was the better fighter. Had all of Meldrick's moves plus added power and physical toughness. But at 140 he was carrying extra weight that didn't translate to added power and was slower. Also something got unhinged mentally when he got nailed by Rosario and stopped him letting his hands go. 23 year old unbeaten Meldrick Taylor outworks him. And I'm a big fan of Camacho as a fighter pre-Rosario.

 

I don't rate Camacho as highly as a lot of others, though there's no denying he was truly gifted athletically. Also, as others have touched on, he probably peaked at Lightweight rather than Light-Welter...Albeit that was probably psychological as much as physical. Had the Rosario war not dented his confidence and prompted him to adopt a more cagey, no-risk style, he might well have looked just as good at 140.

Nevertheless, 140 ostensibly favours Taylor, I guess. And if we're talking about the fight happening when it was viable as a unification fight around 1989 / 1990, then I'd give Meldrick a relatively decisive edge. Had that little bit of devil in his work which Camacho had started to lack, would be the busier man and was definitely the more hurtful puncher at the weight.

If, instead, we're imagining a hypothetical where a time machine allows us to pit a 1985 / 1986 Camacho, still full of confidence and willing to trade at close quarters more, stepping up to face a 1989 / 1990 Meldrick, it might be a different story, although my instincts are still to back Taylor. Even when Camacho was at his best, I think his raw speed and flashiness blinded a lot of people to the fact that his attacks were quite repetitive and that he wasn't a particularly cerebral fighter. Ring intelligence wasn't Taylor's strong point either, but he had a lot more variety to his punches than Camacho, was a little more unpredictable and had that extra physicality and willingness to fight dirty if needs be.

Taylor by decision in either scenario for me, then. One thing's for sure, you'd be seeing red blurs for the full duration as they let their hands go. Both had astonishing hand speed and two quicker 140 pounders you'll struggle to find, especially against one another.

 

I saw that fight on HBO on June 13 1986, good fight until Rosario staggered Camacho, from then on he ran. He would do the same against Cornelious Boza Edwards in Sept 1986, Edwards would later complain that Hector ran.

 

Taylor on points. But takes a lot more shots than needed. Luckily Hector was no puncher.

 

Taylor UD, though Camacho looked better against the Zen Master of speed Howard Davis jr than Meldrick.

 

Meldrick. Meldrick was willing to fight everyone and wear himself out doing it.I think he wins a UD over Hector at 140. Fighting one Chavez is better than 35 of the guys Camacho fought just to stay active. I feel for Meldrick. He really had confidence. Camacho should have, but he didn't. Not like Meldrick, and Meldrick deserves credit for that.

 

Taylor by decision.

Camacho should have gone after a legitimate 140 lb title in 1987 or 88 but inactivity hurt him. He looked good against Howard Davis in 87 but then very beatable against Reyes Cruz in 88 after a layoff of one year. He then got big $$ to fight a rusty Mancini and only squeaked by.

 

The 85 Camacho was at his peak but didnt fight at 140 lbs. I am not sure he would have been quite as sharp at that weight. Taylor seemed the more natural 140 lb of the two as he moved up pretty early in his career. I think at 140 lbs he was faster than Camacho.

Camacho did look better than Taylor against Davis but Meldrick fought Davis at 135 lbs and was not at his peak yet.

I think I may favor Camacho over Meldrick in 1987 as Meldrick was still a lightweight and had not peaked yet. But the peak 140 lb Taylor who easily beat McGirt through the early 1990 version that came within a whisker of beating Chavez would beay any 140 lb version of Camacho I think.

 

Came here to say the same. I agree with this.