By Rick Reeno

Last Saturday night in Nashville, Jermain Taylor pummeled one of his friends, Jeff Lacy, on route to winning a one-sided unanimous twelve round decision. Taylor’s official debut in the super middleweight division has opened up a lot of possibilities for 2009. After losing back to back bouts to Kelly Pavlik, the win over Lacy was just the kind of confidence booster that Taylor needed to get back on his feet.

Possible Opponents

Bernard Hopkins - The ageless wonder has few options to go with in 2009. Joe Calzaghe is in no rush to fight him for a second time. The public is not exactly clamoring for that rematch. Last month Hopkins beat the man who beat the man when he dominated Kelly Pavlik, who beat Taylor twice, and Taylor holds two wins over Hopkins. Unless Hopkins is ready to retire or face a serious threat like a Chad Dawson, he may place a Taylor trilogy on his short-list of possibilities.

Joe Calzaghe - At one point in 2007, before there were two losses on his record - Taylor was the frontrunner to fight the unbeaten Welshman. Some basic disagreements on money and the fight location, shot the fight to pieces. Now it’s a new day, Taylor is no longer an undefeated fighter with several titles around his waist and Calzaghe is one of the biggest names in the sport after beating Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. If Calzaghe decides to fight on, Taylor will be one the names being considered.

Carl Froch - Taylor should have been fighting Froch for the vacant WBC super middleweight title. Lacy was a bigger name and there was more money in the fight. More importantly HBO had little interest in Taylor-Froch. They probably would have aired it, but not for the money they were willing to pay for Taylor-Lacy. The Taylor-Lacy encounter was an eliminator for the mandatory position under the WBC rankings. If nothing better comes along, Taylor may decided to fight Froch, if he beats Pascal next month.

Jean Pascal - Same as above - if he beats Froch.

Lucian Bute - The reputation of Bute took some bumps after he faded in the late portion of his recent title defense against Librado Andrade. If there were ten more seconds left in the twelfth round, Andrade would have knocked Bute out. He was lucky that Andrade decked him in the final ten seconds of the fight. Taylor’s promoter Lou DiBella has a good relationship with InterBox, who promote Bute. Taylor-Bute is not worth a lot in America. In Canada, where Bute has a superstar following, the fight is worth plenty.

Unlikely Opponents

Chad Dawson - He could become the most avoided man from 168 to 175. After his last performance, not too many fighters are stepping up to the plate to fight him. Taylor won’t see Dawson any time soon.

Mikkel Kessler - Arguably the best super middleweight in the world. A very tough opponent for any fighter and I don’t see Taylor being matched with him in the near future. Taylor’s handlers are probably hoping that Kessler moves up to light heavy. As far as the super middleweight division goes, Taylor vs. Kessler is the biggest fight at the weight. The problem with fighting Kessler, other than the level of danger, is the money. The fight is worth considerably more if they held it in Denmark. I don’t Taylor heading overseas for that one. Kessler needs to get more fights on American television and build his name to where the fight is worth something on American soil. Most American fans remember him as the guy with the Viking tattoo that Calzaghe beat last November.

Arthur Abraham - Abraham is struggling to make middleweight. He won’t be there for long. Look for him to move up in weight after a possible fight with either Felix Sturm or Kelly Pavlik, whichever comes first. Once he rises to super middleweight, he probably won’t be in the ring with Taylor for some time.

Librado Andrade - Too much risk, not enough reward.

Glen Johnson - Please see above. After Johnson's performance against Dawson - nobody is running to fight this man. Nobody other than Shaun George.