Seeking the truth about Jermain Taylor

Murky. Not a choice word in describing a middleweight champion’s reign. But it’s the most accurate in describing Jermain Taylor’s tenure at 160 pounds since dethroning Bernard Hopkins via split decision. With four title defenses including a rematch win over Hopkins, a draw with Winky Wright and two wins over world-class 154-pounders, the once-dubbed “Heir Apparent’s” resume should speak for itself. But there is far too much gray area for that to be the case. Beyond his record on paper, Taylor’s fights tell the story of his murky reign.

When Taylor stepped in the ring with Hopkins for the first time, fans looked for answers. But they got neither after a decision that was debatable rather than decisive. The Arkansans bellowed that no one since Roy Jones back in 1993 had managed to keep “Executioner” from bullying his way in and that a rematch would be easier. The old school purists replied that Taylor was manhandled over the final four rounds, and that next time Hopkins would start fighting sooner to erase all doubt.

But Hopkins didn’t start sooner, and Taylor won this time by unanimous decision. Taylor corrected some mistakes in the rematch, such as jabbing with more conviction and throwing the right with more accuracy. But it still was not a dominating victory. No one wanted to see the champ win for a second time by simply neutralizing Hopkins’ attack with his sheer physical threat enough to earn a slim points victory. At the end of 2005, the only thing apparent about the “Heir Apparent” was that we did not want to see him the ring again with Bernard Hopkins for the third time.

Halfway through 2006, Taylor gained more of the public’s approval simply by agreeing to take on his third consecutive fight with a pound-for-pounder, than he did in his two wins over Hopkins combined. However, after the fight, Jermain Taylor’s moniker promptly changed from Bad Intentions to Bad Decisions, as many thought Winky Wright deserved the victory. For the third fight in a row, Taylor was out-landed and ********* yet still had a goose egg in the loss column.

His fans, again, found room for optimism: Taylor had done better than the likes of “Sugar” Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad and he dropped some impressive bombs on Wright, who looked exhausted late on. But he ought to have done better than the natural welterweights, and skeptics added that most of the bombs hit arms and gloves. Which point of view held more merit?

We looked for definition in his two subsequent fights, the first of which was against Kassim Ouma. Here was a chance to shed light on his offensive abilities. In other words, if Taylor knocked out the smaller Ouma in style, we’d all have a clearer picture. He would show himself the dominant force we thought he was. He was just held in check by two defensive masters. Surely?
Again, the adequate answer slid away. Eager for a knockout, Taylor sloppily wasted away his energy in the early rounds as he trudged clumsily to an ugly decision victory. He then explored the other extreme in his next fight by hardly throwing any punches at all. Taylor swung for the fences against a guy who could walk through a brick wall in Ouma, and then tried to cautiously out-box a pure boxer in Cory Spinks when clearly, a more aggressive offense was called for, last May.

In a sport so honest and naked, it is hard to hide truth. Yet the answers often elude us. Taylor’s path since becoming champ has revealed nothing but two opposing and equally valid viewpoints. Often, the middle ground between extreme opinions has the most accuracy. But in this case, would that mean that Jermain Taylor is only an average boxer whose physical gifts have allowed him to squeak by the tough competition?

A lot is expected from Jermain Taylor, now 27-0-1 (17 KOs). And when a lot is expected, little forgiveness is offered when expectations are not met. Take away those expectations, take away the “Heir Apparent” status he earned pre-Hopkins, and give Taylor’s resume to a boxer of Carlos Baldomir’s ilk. Suddenly, the fighter is given a lot of credit for what he has achieved out of nowhere. But Taylor has had expectations heaped on him since he came out of the Olympics in 2000 and has been given every opportunity to shine.

In boxing, the cliché tells us a boxer is only as good as his last fight. In Taylor’s case, he currently finds himself in the public’s eye only as good as his last five. Some truth needs to be revealed about Taylor’s past through the present, as he has already attempted to do against Ouma and Spinks, but failed. The present is his challenge against Kelly Pavlik (31-0, 28). Contrarily, Pavlik is as good as his last fight – an aggressive knockout of Edison Miranda – and because of it, many would pick the undefeated fighter from Youngstown, Ohio to beat Taylor.
So this may be the perfect time for Taylor to finally make a powerful statement: Pavlik will provide him a violent confrontation, not a tedious standoff. He is fighting a guy who will give him every opportunity to show his truth: what he is made of. Instant gratification is certainly not a given in boxing, but a champion’s status still undefined after four world-class challengers is certainly rare. September 29th will not only bring excitement in the ring, but also will finally reveal the truth about Jermain Taylor and clear his murky past.

Pavlik KO's his ass by the 6th.