Sergio Martinez vs Jermain Taylor

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by Slickstar, Jun 27, 2011.

  1. booradley

    booradley Mean People Kick Ass! Full Member

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    I assume we're talking about JT under Burns and looking good on the comeback trail.
     
  2. demigawd

    demigawd Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I can't see Taylor beating Martinez in any way, shape or form in any future fight between the two. Taking Froch out of the equation, Taylor was knocked out by middleweights, among them a middleweight who was dismantled by Martinez. So there shouldn't be much question as to whether or not Martinez has the ability to knockout Taylor - he does, and if the fight ever happens, one would be well-advised to put quite a bit of money on it.

    Now, prime-for-prime is a more interesting question. The problem is Taylor peaked VERY early, or maybe he just built his entire rep on beating Hopkins. I know a lot of people like to judge a person's "prime" by results, but I've never believed that the Taylor who beat Hopkins and the Taylor who drew against Winky, narrowly beat Spinks, and was beaten twice by Pavlik are any different from each other. I think he has a favorable stylistic matchup against Hopkins.

    In a sense, he's to Hopkins what Tarver was to Jones, or Frazier was to Ali. His ability to confound a previously unbeatable component overinflated people's estimation of him and created a smokescreen concealing his true ability. If you took Hopkins out of the equation, Taylor never looked like a great fighter, and never had a great performance against any other elite boxer.

    OTOH, I've rarely seen Martinez look anything other than sensational. Sure, Martinez never fought anybody on the level of a middleweight Hopkins or a bona fide 168 fighter, but I think Dzinziruk, Williams, Pavlik and Cintron compare somewhat favorably to Pavlik, Spinks, Ouma, and Wright. The difference is that Martinez looked A LOT better against his quartet than Taylor did against his.

    Prime for prime, I have to say that Martinez would more than likely win a reasonably competitive 115-113/116-112 type affair.