I don't understand why people are up in arms about Tayor v Wright

The Taylor haters I really don't understand. What has the kid ever done to make anybody hate him? Unlike Hopkins who ducked great competition for years and runs at the mouth like none other and cries when he loses, Taylor fought the #1 p4p guy twice in one year, beat him twice, never bragged about it, and he's never LOST. He's nowhere near as good as he's going to get, and he's beat Hopkins TWICE in 6 months!! The kid is amazing. I think everybody that hates him just lost a lot of money on Hopkins. Instead of hating themselves for being complete idiots and picking Hopkins, they hate on the kid that holds TWO victories over B-Hop. Seriously, how any of you picked Hopkins to win the 2nd fight is beyond me. You should all kick your own asses for being morons instead of hating on Taylor for having the biggest year in boxing anybody could have.

Where are you Super_Lighweight? You gave me bad karma for saying this in another thread. Now that you have the actual records in front of you, you don't care to comment? man, Super Lightweight is like that. he always gives bad karma if you say what you think would happen. don't ever suggest to him that Roy could lose or Toney has a chance of losing to Rahman, or you'll get bad K up the ass. dude's a complete pussy when it comes to arguing and the biggest Roy nuthugger you'll ever meet. I got so much satisfaction out of seeing Roy lose to Tarver yet again just because of that guy alone. :D

its time for both fighters to get what they deserve. winky deserves a title shot and taylor deserves a good sound beating.

I hear you man, but you can't put Taylor anywhere near those guys yet.

Well, not only hasn't he earned it in the 1st place, Winky is the undisputed #1 contender. It's quite simple really, fight Winky or be labelled as a pussy. Thomas Tate, one of the most feared middleweights? I don't think so. Joe Lipsey was an undefeated bright contender, Hopkins finished his career. Glen Johnson was another good one, completely dominated and stopped the man that would become the lightheavy weight champ.

I don't see Taylor as in his prime yet. He's still a largely unschooled fighter. Were I his management, I would have opted for a few more fights against escalating opposition prior to throwing him in against Hopkins. I also believe that if he goes against Winky next, he will likely lose because he's not ready to fight elite fighters yet. well, then that's Taylor's fault! If you're gonna hold the titles and proclaim you are the champion, YOU'RE GONNA ACT LIKE IT. End of story.

Ok, he gave 2 very lackluster performances against Hopkins, winning disputed decisions both times. I think we can all agree on that. Now everyone is calling him a pussy for not immediately fighting Wright after the biggest fights in his still young career, as if it is something completely unprecedented, so let's take a look at what some beloved ex-champions here did after they won the middleweight title: Roy Jones, Jr: 1993-05-22 Bernard Hopkins (22-1-0) (Won the vacant IBF title) 1993-08-14 Thulani Malinga (35-8-0) 10 Rd Non-Title Fight 1993-11-30 Fermin Chirino (12-7-2) 10 Rd Non-Title Fight 1994-03-22 Danny Garcia (25-11-0) 10 Rd Non-Title Fight 1994-05-27 Thomas Tate (29-2-0) (Finally defended it a year later) Bernard Hopkins: 1995-04-29 Segundo Mercado (18-2-1) (Won Vacant IBF Belt) 1996-01-27 Steve Frank (15-2-1) 1996-03-16 Joe Lipsey (25-0-0) 1996-07-16 William James (20-6-1) 1997-04-19 John David Jackson (35-2-0) 1997-07-20 Glen Johnson (32-0-0) So, apparently it's ok for RJJ to fight 3 non-title fights then defend his title once, a year later, against a tomato can before moving up in weight. I guess it's also ok for Bernard to go 5 fights and 2 years before fighting a recognizable name. It's not ok, though, for Taylor to have a single showcase, likely against a top contender, in his hometown before fighting arguably the best in the division. Someone care to explain this to me? i see NOTHING wrong with taylor takin a fight in feb or march against someone in little rock and then fighting winky late in the summer

Taylor has had two hard fights so in many ways he deserves an easy title defense. However, many are questioning the victories over Hopkins and this also questions his valdility as champion. People want Taylor to fight Wright so that a clear winner and true undisputed champion is found. Taylor's questionable title victories are clouding his championship status, so in the long run it would be better to fight Wright as soon as possible. Wright is also the mandatory. exactly, taylor won't fight wright next though, because then his reign as middelweight champ is over, he'll put it off as long as he can

age might be and issue.. winky is getting older.. he wants all the big fights.. taylor has time.. hes in his prime.. I don't see Taylor as in his prime yet. He's still a largely unschooled fighter. Were I his management, I would have opted for a few more fights against escalating opposition prior to throwing him in against Hopkins. I also believe that if he goes against Winky next, he will likely lose because he's not ready to fight elite fighters yet.

age might be and issue.. winky is getting older.. he wants all the big fights.. taylor has time.. hes in his prime..

Malinga wasnt that shot, he easily beat Benn after the Jones loss. He beat Benn in a split decision that wasn't so easy. Benn was also towards the end of his career at that time. Also, factor in that every fighter, no matter how long he's been around, can still have one good fight left in him. After that fight, with the exception of Reid, he fought (and lost to some) pretty pedestrian opposition. Don't make him out to be more than he was. He was a talented, yet past his prime, fighter when Jones fought him.

I would agree that RJJ won the title, but Hopkins fought an "opponent" to be handed the title. Subtle difference there. this is what i meant to quote, sorry.

I missed this part, and I don't know how: By this criteria (not immediately defending against the best), wouldn't Hopkins and Jones be considered unmanly? I see your point, but he still won the fight!

I missed this part, and I don't know how: The past is in the past. Act like a champion and fight him. By this criteria (not immediately defending against the best), wouldn't Hopkins and Jones be considered unmanly?

How has Wright earned it? If you're honestly asking this question, i'm done with this thread.. :rolleyes:

Tate was, at one time, feared, but not by the time he got to Roy. He primed early and was never quite the same fighter after losing to julian Jackson. Malinga was well past his prime when he fought Jones, having been in maky tough fights ver his 12 years career prior to that fight. And I would argue that Hopkins had a better post-title resume simply because he always fought for the belts, but I think that's a subjective thing. I just want someone to explain to me why these 2 fighters are heroes when they fought far less than stellar fighters after winning the title, yet Taylor is considered to be a dog for wanting to fight a top-ranked guy. Malinga wasnt that shot, he easily beat Benn after the Jones loss.

How has Wright earned it? By being the champ at 154? By beating Trinidad, who just stood there like a punching bag? By a lackluster performance against a circus freak last week? That last one may be the right answer. After all, Taylor won the belts in a lackluster performance and defended it the same way. It still doesn't answer my question about why the other 2 guys are allowed crap opposition for a year or two, but Taylor must immediately jump in against arguably the best. I just want to know why Taylor is held to different rules.

Taylor should fight Wright next because WRIGHT deserves and has earned it. As far as im concerned, it has nothing to do with Taylor. If Taylor gonna be "PROCLAIMED MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION", he's going to have to deal with what comes with that title, fighting other top ranked opponents, and Wright is first in line. And luckily it's not Taylor going back and having people compare what other fighters (jones, hopkins, whoever) have done when they became champ or i would lose respect for him. Be your own man. The past is in the past. Act like a champion and fight him.

Plenty of non-American champions, especially those in the lower weight classes, will make non-title or over-the-weight fights in-between bouts with name fighters or title defenses. The main issue is the amount of time between bouts. If the "easy" fight is done six months after attaining a title or retaining the belts, and then the next fight is six months later, then it is bothersome. To Jones' credit, those three over-the-weight bouts were all two to three months after each other, although I dislike the amount of time before his next defense. Hopkins' fights were all defenses, although I don't know why there was nine months between Mercado and Frank, or the same length between James and Jackson. Everything else was close together, though. Taylor and DiBella have made indications that a Wright fight, should it come, would be in late summer. That's fine, that's about eight months away or so, so if there's the tune-up for a build-up in-between, it follows the same sort of path. Excellent post, and good point in that Taylor and DiBella are considering names like Sturm, contenders in their own right, for the tweener.

RJJ and B-Hop Actually WON the titles in the first place.I would agree that RJJ won the title, but Hopkins fought an "opponent" to be handed the title. Subtle difference there.