This fight between 2 Olympic gold medalists seems to be highly overlooked nowadays but this was a fascinating, fast paced fight that's both skillfully fight and entertaining. Meldrick Taylor is only 19 years old against 30 year old wily boxer Howard Davis. You can see both fighters showing amazing hand speed. Close and competitive fight that ends in a draw. Always wondered why they never fought a rematch considering how well matched they were. This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected
I scored it for Taylor narrowly but its one of the most legit draws you'll ever see very close fight this is how i had it Meldrick Taylor vs Howard Davis Jr 1. Taylor 2. Taylor 3. Davis 4. Davis 5. Davis 6. Taylor 7. Taylor 8. Davis 9. Taylor 10. Taylor 96-94 Taylor
Pretty much how I had it as well. Taylor won it by being the aggressor but Davis' movement was giving him some issues. I think Taylor was still a bit green and became a much better fighter when he fought McGirt. Still very impressive how well he handled himself against a more experienced pro.
From memory Davis landed some good body shots and was the aggressor in the middle rounds but he stopped doing that and reverted back to his normal boxing style in the later rounds and that's why I thought Taylor edged it on aggression. This fight for Taylor is just like Foreman vs Peralta 1, Tyson vs Tillis, a good learning fight against a solid pro. I feel like today prospects aren't in enough of these type of fights.
Yeah Davis was doing well with the body attacks but for some reason he stopped doing that and went back to boxing on the back foot. This fight definitely helped Taylor become a better fighter.
You are bang on the money Flo. I was a huge fan of Howard. So at this point he was sliding. He'd given his all in a title tilt against Edwin Rosario two years earlier, losing due to a knockdown in the last 15 seconds of the fight. He was never as sharp again. Just before fighting Taylor, Howie was defeated by Joe Manley who despite winning a strap a couple of fights later should not have been beating Howard. He did put up a good fight against Taylor, who was having only his 13th pro fight, but he'd had a heckuva amateur career, winning Olympic gold at 17yo. A year later against Hector Camacho Davis was a half step behind and lost. I would have loved to see that pair match up a couple of years earlier when they were the two fastest fighters in boxing, make that in history. So underrated fight for sure. Davis turned up to fight and Taylor had just enough inexperience to make this a ripper. It was great matchmaking by Taylor's team, it was the perfect fight for him at the perfect time, even if he drew. Benton was doing an amazing job training him too.
