by David P. Greisman
Photo © Josh Barron/FightWireImages.com

On a night when the World Boxing Council spotlighted its open scoring system, it’s fitting that Jermain Taylor chose to suit himself, scoring openly, easily and often against Kassim Ouma.

So had Michael Buffer not announced the judges’ tallies after the fourth and eighth rounds, there still would have been little surprise when the unanimous decision victory was announced for Taylor – though Sergio Silvi’s 115-113 scorecard raised more than a few eyebrows.

For 12 rounds, Taylor’s crisp combos alighted consistently on an Ouma who, with a five-inch disadvantage in height and an immeasurable power discrepancy, continued to come forward but could not land with punishing force. Taylor’s punches whooshed through the air, thudding upon Ouma’s face and body and doing what Taylor had been unable to against Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright – make an impact.

Against Hopkins, Taylor took two close, controversial decisions, winning mainly because he did slightly more than his maddeningly patient opponent. Taylor’s bout with Wright ended as a disputed draw, Taylor retaining the middleweight championship by the skin of his teeth.

But on Saturday, Taylor closed the show as the clear winner for the first time since the pre-Hopkins era, back when he had yet to lose a round. That was the Taylor who had been chosen as the heir apparent to the middleweight division, but since then his stature has grown at a far quicker rate than his ability.

At times, Taylor drifts into amateur tendencies, keeping his hands low, forgetting about his jab, making technical mistakes and compensating solely by relying on innate athleticism. Yet as the middleweight king, he is given neither time, rhyme nor reason to improve.

Prior to facing Hopkins, Taylor fought at least four times a year, adding names to his ledger and experience under his belt. Under an HBO contract, however, Taylor is like the majority of the network’s superstars, appearing every five or six months and building buzz for megafights. With the busy schedule of trainer Emanuel Steward, Taylor’s two fights a year limit the amount of time for the master to refine his student’s flaws. Nevertheless, it’s fortunate that Taylor and Steward are honest enough in their assessments to realize that despite Taylor being the champion, he is far from reaching his full potential. Taylor had been given the world without being taught how to properly rule it.

“The more time I spend with him, the more I realize how much talent he has that has never been tapped,” said Steward in an article by John Whisler of the San Antonio Express-News. “He went from fighting ‘B’ level talent to top-level fighters. It was too big of a jump.”

Taylor needs more time in the gym with Steward, which means he needs to stay active. With the depth of talent in and around the 160-pound weight class, Taylor can defend against all comers, improving his craft fight by fight instead of rushing into a proposed battle with super middleweight Joe Calzaghe.

Though Taylor has been one to challenge the best, he cannot make the same mistake as Jeff Lacy, who overconfidently believed he was ready for Calzaghe. Taylor should only pull the trigger when he knows for sure that he has eliminated all the flaws that the veteran, versatile Welshman can exploit. Once Taylor is fully prepared, then he can make – and work to win – a clear, comfortable decision.

The 10 Count

1.  The soap opera that is Scott Harrison’s life and career endured another episode last week, as the Scot dropped his World Boxing Organization featherweight title due to an inability to even come close to making the 126-pound limit for his scheduled Dec. 9 bout against Nicky Cook.

After an eventful year that saw multiple legal problems and reported struggles with alcohol and depression, Harrison was set to fight for the first time in 13 months but couldn’t get his weight under 133 pounds, according to Harrison’s father.

Whether Harrison chooses to continue fighting at a higher weight class is of secondary importance – he should get his life back together first, though boxing might be the distraction necessary for keeping him out of trouble.

All this being said, isn’t it nice, for once, to have a boxer admit to difficulty making weight days prior to embarrassing himself on the scale?

2.  Though Nicky Cook lost his bout at Harrison, he was able to stay busy, winning an eight-round unanimous decision over last-minute replacement Harry Ramogoadi. But Cook – who is undefeated at 26-0 and ranked ninth by the WBO – shouldn’t hold his breath waiting for an immediate crack at Harrison’s vacated belt.

In August, the WBO sanctioned Juan Manuel Marquez-Terdsak Jandaeng for its interim featherweight title, which Marquez won. Now that Harrison has abdicated his throne, Marquez takes his place, and there are eight fighters ranked ahead of Cook that are in line, waiting for a shot.

3.  British fight fans, however, were able to get their Harrison surname fix through heavyweight Audley, who stopped Danny Williams in three rounds far more thrilling than the dreadful 12-round snoozer that Williams won by split decision a year ago.

Although Williams was a late replacement for an injured Matt Skelton, he weighed in at 267 pounds, 21 pounds lighter than his previous appearance and five pounds less than his first bout with Harrison.

Harrison, though, fought like a desperate man, knowledgeable that his career since winning gold at the 2000 Olympics had been largely underwhelming, especially with recent losses to Williams and fellow underachiever Dominick Guinn.

Perhaps a pre-fight scuffle with Williams lit the proverbial fire under Harrison’s rear, or perhaps Harrison merely understands that at 35, time is running out for him to fulfill his potential.

“They don’t give away Olympic gold medals. I can fight,” Harrison said following his victory. “In 2007 I will win the world title, in 2008 I will be undisputed. You saw today I have definitely got the skills.”

What needs to be seen is if he has consistency.

4.  While Harrison-Williams II turned out to be a one-sided affair, it was, on paper, the most competitive of Saturday’s heavyweight match-ups. Various bouts elsewhere appeared to have little purpose but to serve sacrificial lambs up for slaughter.

In Florida, a comebacking Michael Moorer kayoed Cliff Couser about halfway into the first round, Roman Greenberg stopped Steve Pannell in the third, the same round that prospect Mike Marrone gained a technical knockout victory over Ronald Bellamy. The only heavyweight to put some rounds under his belt was Oliver McCall, who needed seven stanzas to dispatch Yanqui Diaz.

5.  Meanwhile on the undercard of Taylor-Ouma, two heavyweight bouts actually went the distance. Dominick Guinn – who since 2004 has gone from highly touted to highly doubted – won an eight round split decision over Zack Page, who is essentially a cruiserweight. Terry Smith was also in action, rebounding from his July decision loss to Jameel McCline by outpointing designated opponent Ramon Hayes.

6.  Lost in this glut of big men was Oleg Maskaev’s voluntary title defense against Peter Okhello, which Maskaev won via unanimous decision. Maskaev now awaits the winner of January’s rematch between Samuel Peter and James Toney, unless, of course, there is another draw or somewhat controversial decision that causes the World Boxing Council to mandate another sanctioning fee-producing elimination bout.

7.  The Nevada State Athletic Commission temporarily suspended junior flyweight Omar Nino and featherweight Orlando Salido following their testing positive, respectively, for methamphetamine use and the steroid Nandrolone, according to the Associated Press.

Both fighters will receive formal hearings early next year.

8.  Once again, HBO has gotten its year-end “Boxing’s Best” broadcasts wrong. Last year, the premium cable outlet chose Arturo Gatti-Floyd Mayweather, Winky Wright-Felix Trinidad and Bernard Hopkins-Jermain Taylor I, bouts that were, respectively, one-sided, one-sided and drearily controversial. Somehow forgotten in the decision-making process were wars like Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao I, Jorge Arce-Hussein Hussein I and Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Torres.

This year, HBO will show Jermain Taylor-Winky Wright on Dec. 25, Ricardo Mayorga-Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 26 and the second and third Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales fights on Dec. 27. But while Taylor-Wright and the Pacquiao-Morales bouts are good choices, I’m sure De La Hoya wouldn’t have minded putting his Mayorga blowout aside in order to spotlight the fantastic September battle between Golden Boy Promotions fighters Israel Vazquez and Jhonny Gonzalez.

9. Equal (Show)Time: As for the best Showtime bouts of 2006, my top three are O’Neil Bell-Jean-Marc Mormeck, Jose Armando Santa Cruz-Edner Cherry and Lamon Brewster-Sergei Liakhovich.

10.  With James Toney hiring famed Tae Bo trainer Billy Blanks to get him in shape for his rematch with Samuel Peter, will Peter respond by Sweatin’ to the Oldies with Richard Simmons?

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