Taylors stoppage vs. JCC..One of the greatest tragedies

duva was an idiot, yes. but the point is that steele wanted to stop that fight very quickly before the final second or two. meldrick was up and cognizant and he acknowledged steele and was responding to direction by his corner even if he didn't tell steele 'im ok'. at the very least, steele shoulda taken more than a split second to decide whether taylor's ok or not esp in a champ fight where meldrick had done so well. That steele didn't take but a split second to decide shows he wanted to stop the fight so that jcc would win.

 

It may have taken 13 seconds for everything to occur (the kd, getting up, etc), but I'm pretty certain from memory steele didn't give him 13 seconds to respond. from my memory, steele asks him twice in relatively quick succession are you ok, than waves his hand ending the fight -- might have taken 4 -5 seconds.

 

I remember watching that fight live in 1990, and although I had originally hoped for Chavez to win, I found myself pulling for Meldrick around the mid point in the fight. It was hard not to appreciate the good work that he was doing in there. The footwork. The picture perfect hooks and combos to the body and head. He looked as great as any fighter had ever looked. Around the 8th or 9th round, if I remember, I noticed that Taylor began to look ugly. His eyes were swelling, and his mouth and nose bleeding. He was also starting to show huge signs of exhaustion. By the 12th round, he could barely stand. At one point, he took a swing at Julio and slipped to the canvas. Over the years, I've heard Richard Steele interviewed on several occasions about that fight and his controversial stoppage of it. His answers remain consistant, unlike Lou Duva, who at the time told Meldrick he needed the last round bad, and has since changed his story to " I told him to dance and stay away ". Steele, has said over and over again that he could see how much punishment Taylor was taking more so than anyone else could, and that he was not the time keeper.

Although I strongly disagree with Steele's stoppage, given that he had heard the 10 second indication that the round was ending, and that Taylor was seconds away from one of the greatest feats ever, but I also truly feel that he was concerened for Taylor's health and life. He made a mistake, but I think history has been a bit harsh on him for it.

 

I totally agree with you.:good meldrick was one of fave boxers in the 90s, along with michael "2nd to none" nunn(who got way too cocky), virgil hill, vinny pazienza, etc..:yep

 

Agreed.

These guys were better in my opinion, than a lot of people seem to rememeber them for. Of course, I grew up during the 80's and 90's, so my opinion may be a bit biased towards them.

Pazienza was truly an all time great fighter, even though some may not think that he is. His battles with Greg Haugan were absolute classics. I also enjoyed watching some of his later fights on the USA network and other cable channels. He was exciting to watch. He constantly moved, and almost never stopped throwing punches. His ring enterances were great. He had both a lot of character and a lot of toughness.

 

steele wouldn't have stopped Chavez with two seconds left, I think that's almost certain.

 

yeah the pazmanian devil had a high workrate and throws punches in bunches. :good

 

how do people rank chavez in the top 20 fighters of all-time,despite the great controversies in the two biggest fights of his career.

 

Well, you can't punish the guy for winning fights in the fashion that he did. It's not his fault that circumstances unfolded that way. Also, being undefeated through nearly 90 pro fights, and beating some of the guys that he fought, certainly warrants all time great status to a degree. The one valid criticism that I'll agree with, is that he was gifted a draw against Pernell Whitaker. He should have lost that fight.

 

This is exactly what I did.

 

I couldn't agree with you MORE. This one stunk 18 years ago, and it still stinks to high heaven today. Steele was KNOWN to be Don King's boy, and he did what the boss told him to do.

This was one of the most egregregious stoppages that I have seen in 30 years of following boxing, if not THE most.

 

i am not denying he is top 50 atg,but never top 20

 

Fair enough

 

You have no idea how sorry I felt for Taylor. I think about it now and I still feel desperately sad.

However, the ref did the right thing. He's ALWAYS supposed to follow protocol, no matter what.

 

Best post of the thread!:good