Thoughts on Jermaine Taylor?

Physically, he had it all and when he was totally tuned in he was gifted and skilled enough to give anyone a fight. But a fully focused Jermaine Taylor at his best -- and I dont think he ever reached his peak -- was rare, so the only guy on that list id favor him to beat is Felix Sturm.

 

Gifted athleticism, and he was humble outside of the ring and had a hell of a mean streak inside the ring. Nearly everyone he fought against he had speed, power and technique advantages against. Only real issue was his stamina, he was so tightly wound in the ring he had the bad habit of burning out. He was a fairly complete package and you're right, I don't think he ever got the chance to peak either.

So sad what CTE has done to him

 

Ya totally agree, athletically one of the most gifted boxers from the recent era. Obscenely gifted physically.

 

I don't think he ever had great fundamentals. Excellent athlete and obviously world class fighter, but I think he'd be at a disadvantage against everyone on that list except Sturm.

 

Sorry strum buys straps and uses peds dirty fhooking cheating horrible ****
Did I mention he aint paid his taxes

But Khan would have you believe he's a good honest humble guy both distrustful lying fhookers

Taylor was talented though

 

Kelly ruined him. Lol Now he mainly does weird racial rants on video.

 

He could potentially beat all of them and potentially lose to all of them. That's what kind of fighter he was. Damn shame about him getting cte he's not in the right state of mind and needs help.

 

Good fighter, but Hopkins ruined him..

Go back to the first fight. Taylor was dominating B-Hop until about the 6th round when Hopkins opened a cut high on Taylor's scalp...
From that moment on Taylor was a different fighter, and particularly a more timid fighter

 

I had a heavy emotional investment in a lot of the guys who came out of the 2000 Olympics. I was new to following boxing closely, so guys like Taylor, Jeff Lacy, Cotto, Rocky Juarez, & Panchito Bojado were the first time I got to watch guys progress from the beginning. To me it was clear from the jump that Taylor and Cotto had the best chances of making a big splash. Juarez had much better credentials and a lot of people tagged Bojado as the best in class, but Taylor and Cotto had the X-Factor and within a few years had set themselves apart from the pack, with Lacy in third place.

To answer your question, Taylor's career is disapointing and accomplished at the same time. On one had he got the nod twice against Hopkins. It was controversial but several IBHOFers and plenty of champions couldn't come close to beating B-Hop. But on the other, Taylor lost twice to Pavlik, who Taylor should have been able to outmanuver.

He gets points for rebounding and having a surprisingly successful comeback. But I think Taylor's place in history will be less remembered as a legit, lineal MW champ, in the same lineage as Greb, Ketchel, Hagler, & Monzon, and more as a champ who was finished and concussed in almost terrifying fashion in three of his losses.

 

The boxing world would be significantly different if he had been smart enough to take a knee against Froch.

 

He ramrods Sturm and the corner stops the fight...

Gets the Pavlik treatment from GGG....

Canelo and Martinez are interesting really. Focused Taylor had a jab that gives both something to really think about. But i just can't take him over either of them.

 

What's funny about that? Hopkins ruined kelly and forced him to the bottle is anyone here laughing at that. There's nothing funny about either man's situation.

 

The Lol was about the weird videos. I started to chuckle thinking about them before typing it.

And yes I have seen plenty over the years laughing about Kelly’s retirement around here. You haven’t huh?? Wow. Surprised! You sure as **** were all over the Taylor comment though!!


Lol

 

There's nothing funny about a man who took too much damage in the ring and now has CTE after his career is over I never want to see that happen to any fighter even those I dislike. Kelly gets pity but of course a boxer who has CTE is going to garner more sympathy than a guy who's an alcoholic. That's just the way it is.

 

Taylor was a beast... I think he could beat almost anyone now except maybe Canelo and GGG but they would know it was a fight.

I wanted to stop by and see him when he was forced into the crazy house in AR but it was just too weird so I never went.