Reevaluating my opinion of Taylor

I mean give up on him in the sense of ever expecting his name to be mentioned in the same breath as Hopkins 20 years from now. Yes, I understand that Hopkins and Wright are very tough to look good against, but if he is ever to be considered an all-time great, these are the kind of opponents he needs to do more than squeak out close, controversial decisions against.

Is it me or does Taylor seem shy or nervous doing his post fight interviews ? I thought it was kind of cool how he kept referring to Larry Merchant as "sir". Great kid but needs alot of work and has to learn how to fight on the inside...and his footwork needs help. I'm sure it will come in time, but when ? Hes just a class act.

I'm a huge Winky fan, and I'm trying to be as unbiased as I can be. But I think after watching this fight live and re-watching the fight again there is no doubt Winky won this fight. I was impressed on Taylor's abilities because I saw many things wrong that he can improve and he gave Winky a tough time too. For one, Taylor can punch. Those punches that hit gloves shook Winky up. The only effective punch that was landing was that straight to Winky left eye. It was landing cleanly all night. Also the body shots for Taylor were working early on, but he stopped in the later rounds. I didn't like the way Taylor fought being backed up. He didn't know what to do and was very unprepared. I was also waiting for him to counter some shots when he was on the ropes, but he just kept eating shots. I really hope there is a rematch and Winky proves who's the real champ. I feel bad for him. It was a close fight, there was no clear winner. Winky already said there would be no rematch, Taylor would definitly give Winky another one.

Is it me or does Taylor seem shy or nervous doing his post fight interviews ? I thought it was kind of cool how he kept referring to Larry Merchant as "sir". Great kid but needs alot of work and has to learn how to fight on the inside...and his footwork needs help. I'm sure it will come in time, but when ?

I dont know if you heard what Steward said, but he basiclly said he was very impressed with Taylor last night. He fought a fighter with incredible technical skills and defense, and did SO MANY THINGS WRONG, but was STILL able to keep his title. He was constantly backing up into the ropes to engage Winky, didnt work the jab and kept his left hand low the whole fight. Some of his punches were so poweful that they were going right through Winky's guard, something that ive never seen happen on such regularity. If he keeps Manny as trainer, he will get much better as he matures.

In what sense are you gonna give up on Taylor? As far as how he looked earlier in his career, I'd say it's pretty understandable that he crushed former welterweights early on and then had trouble with Winky and Bernard. That's what happens when you move up in class/size. I think if you saw Taylor fight the other top guys at middleweight (Abraham, Sturm) you would become very convinced again. It's hard to look good vs Winky, and especially Hopkins.

Like many people, I was very high on Taylor's abilities from watching his early development. He easily handled everyone put in front of him and seemed to be the next worldbeater at Middleweight. He fought smartly, jabbed like a demon and easily outfought all the competition. Based on his last 3 performances, the only opponents he's has that were really on a world class level, I have to wonder if I was giving Taylor too much credit. While I did have him winning all 3 fights, his wins seemed to me to come more from what his opponents didn't do than what he himself did. Had the Hopkins that fought Tarver shown up in either of the Taylor fights, then I think that Taylor would have lost. Instead we had a hesitant Hopkins who threw well only in spurts, and pretty much gave away the 2 fights. In Wright, while he landed well, we saw a fighter throwing feather dusters at his opponent. I know everyone judges fights based on different criteria, but I hate pit-a-pat, shoeshine punching. That's what Wright did. Of course, that's kind of what Wright always does. He's a defensive master, but he never commits to his punching. You could see the difference in the power of the landed punches by looking at the 2 fighters. Wright's face was reddened and swollen on both sides, though markedly moreso on the left, while the only mark on Talyor came from an accidental clash of heads. I'm not ready to give up on Taylor yet. There's a part of me that looks at his demeanor, his seeming shyness and wonders if he is still somewhat mentally overwhelmed at the idea of fighting world-class competition. I hope that this is what it is, and that he gets over this hump. If he can't, he is not long for the fame and fortune, and he's the knd of person who you really want to see succeed. He's a nice guy, he looks honestly at what he does wrong in fights and tries to improve on it. He is well-spoken and gives credit where it is due to his opponents. Someone like this is important in boxing becuase he becomes a good face for the sport. If I don't see some improvement in his next bout, if he's still hesitant to engage, if he still allows himself to be backed up by weaker opponents, then I will have to throw in the towel on him. you do understand who his last 3 fights were against.

There's no reason to throw in the towel at all on Taylor. He has fought tooth and nail with top 5 p4p fighters despite his flaws.I agree with that, but he didn't fight as he when we saw him coming up. That, to me at least, will make the difference between him being just another champion in a long string of champions and another Bernard Hopkins.

The reason the Hops that beat Tarver did not show up vs Taylor is because Taylor's youth and determination would not allow it. Also, Hopkins had more energy at 175 than at 160 because he did not have to struggle as much to make weight. There's no reason to throw in the towel at all on Taylor. He has fought tooth and nail with top 5 p4p fighters despite his flaws.