This day in 1990, JC Chavez wrecked Meldrick Taylor

Something about this fight...
The late Dempsey1234 worked for Main Events, the Duvas, at the time, as a talent scout. He was the guy in charge of getting the proper sparring for Taylor and he was in camp every day.
If you knew D1234, you got a call from him just about every day, sometimes several a day, to talk boxing. He and I talked about this fight at length- he talked and I listened- and what he said may be of interest.
He told me how George Benton would get in the ring with Taylor every day and walk and talk him through every move of the fight, for 12 rounds. Benton would be Chavez and he would tell Meldrick how and where to turn, etc...
The thing is, they never ever contemplated the idea of staying away from Chavez. The only plan was to stay close, turn him, and extend exchanges by changing the angle. They were certain that, because Chavez was coming up from 130, that Taylor would be much stronger.
Also, Taylor came to camp at close to 190.

 

Did this guy ever tell you why they told Taylor the fight hinged on the 12th rd?

 

No. He wasn't in the corner.
In my mind, it did.

 

He ever give you his opinion on whether this fight really "ruined" Taylor? Sorry, just curious.

 

No.

 

I agree with you, there were some issues in Taylor's corner. The Espana fight was particularly bad.
After the Rosario fight you wonder why they committed to fighting Chavez like that. But hindsight is always 20/20.

 

I can’t believe it’s been 31 years. I remember watching that fight on HBO the night it happened

 

I guess it boils down to if you feel it's worth the risk letting a fighter potentially "go out on his shield" when there are less than 10 seconds left.

The fighter in me says yes, you should allow a guy one last shot if he's on his feet. What is the point of giving a standing 8 count if you're just going to wave it off?

The compassionate side of me says if a guy is covered and lumps and blood it doesn't matter that he was ahead on the scorecards, safety comes first.

I was resolute for a long time Taylor got robbed, but now I'm not so sure.

 

I had it 7-3-1 for Taylor going into the 12th

Taylor won round 1, Chavez the 2nd, Taylor 3 through 8. 9 and 11 for Chavez, 10th even.

 

I’ve always felt that Taylor was distracted by Duva getting up on the ringpost when Steele was asking him those important questions. He was sort of there, not fully, but I think he would have had enough to answer Steele and last those extra seconds to win a decision if he wasn’t too busy looking at Lou.

Isn’t it a cause for a DQ for Duva to have been up there in the first place?

Anyway, Taylor was always going to have a short stay at the top due to his style and the talent level at 147, but this sped up the decline. He actually looked very impressive a year later in beating Davis for a title at 147, but looked shaky in his next couple title fights. His team probably saw the writing on the wall and cashed out on him with that Norris fight. Espana was a mandatory and always going to be a horrible matchup for Taylor.

 

I watched this live on tv. The most dramatic moment in boxing I've ever seen was the ending.