Meldrick Taylor vs Julio Cesar Chavez: Right Call or Not?

Chavez was landed the harder more damage blows. And damage counts for something in regards to the scoreing.

 

This is perhaps the most dramatic moment I have ever experienced in sports.

Richard Steele made the right call.

"Heartbreaking" is the perfect word to describe Taylor's loss, but it is boxing, a sport with rules and stipulations, won or lost under the same.

You can win on points or by stopping your opponent, that is, kayoing him, or inflicting enough punishment that, in the officials' estimation, he should not continue. Taylor was about to do the former, but Chávez came through with the latter. Whether victory for Taylor was two seconds, one second away -as long as it wasn't snatched from him after the final bell- he lost because he had taken enough, more than enough.

With such high stakes, the first thing a guy with victory in the bag will do after such a late knockdown is make damn sure he unambiguously lets the ref know he is perfectly alert. Any amateur, certainly any champion professional, knows this.

Did Taylor want to continue? Hell, yeah! He got up. In fact, in my opinion, he does so nodding mildly, somewhere inside him knowing he must respond coherently, but he is simply unable to, in stupor land. Meanwhile, a fiery Duva distracts him from the corner, and Steele, who had been closest to the 12-round war than anyone, peers deeply into the eyes of a willing but finished-for-the-night fighter, and rightfully stops the fight, regardless of the time.

"Taylor shoud have been given his win." But he didn't win! Heartbreaking? Yes. And he did not take his beating for nothing. He will always be respected and admired in the fight game, and that is quite something.

 

The damage didnt happen in the last few rounds, the damage was building up though thsos 12 rounds.


Chavez was landed damage shots that started showing later in the fight.

 

I tend to agree with this assessment. He was dishing out the damage from midway on, and serious damage. Not that Meldrick's shots were pitty pat, but they carried none of the power of Chavez'. You don't ruin a man in one round.

 

If Taylor gets up at 9 he wins the fight.

 

I never thought about it like that.

 

"Larry, is it fair to say that Chavez wins the fight, but Taylor wins the event?"

 

Which is why I had Chavez ahead in my scored card.

The thing is the judges had Taylor WAY ahead.

As if Taylor control the fight, he did not.

 

I just watched the fight.

Round 1: 10-9 Taylor
Round 2: 10-9 Chavez
Round 3: 10-9 Taylor
Round 4: 10-9 Taylor
Round 5: 10-9 Taylor
Round 6: 10-9 Taylor
Round 7: 10-9 Taylor
Round 8: 10-9 Taylor
round 9: 10-9 Chavez
round 0: 10-9 Chavez
Round 11: 10-9 Taylor
Round 12: 10-8 Chavez

Had the fight not been stopped, I had Taylor up by 1. Round 3 was close.

 

belive I gave Chavez more of the middle rounds.

 

Tell me which ones and I'll rewatch. It was nowhere near as one sided as the incompetent commentators had it.

 

tomorrow after work, though I belive it was 6,7, and 8, perhaps round 3.

 

I recall watching it well over 15 years ago & had Chavez winning by a round, i've wathed it a couple of time since & i've had Taylor up by 1/2, must be my sugar levels, hard one to score, but according to the commentary you'd think that Taylor was in there on his own:smoke