Taylor working with nutritionist; to train at George Foreman's camp in Houston

He said that he trained just fine his last fight and even changed his diet which he refused to do before. I think his problem is that he fights too tight. It takes more energy when you aren't relaxed. His nerves definitely work against him. He needs some kind of mental/emotional coaching as well, but unfortunately without the benefit of tune-up fights for the last 4 years to rebuild his confidence, I'm not sure it's something he can address outside of the ring. But if I was his team I'd try anything at this point. Accupuncture, meditation exercises, hypnosis... I'd even be for bringing in Anne Wolfe to beat the shit out of him in training so he won't have anything to fear in the ring. Abraham is a very winnable fight for him if he keeps his cool and stays in control. But then again the Froch and Pavlik fights very winnable too, once upon a time...

Taylor can still beat Araham. It's not like he showed any slippage against Froch. The only question is can he last, and AA doesn't bring the heat like Pavlik and Froch do.

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/07/28/columns/harry_king/072909king.txt http://www.nypost.com/seven/07182009/sports/boxing/carano__cybrog_geared_to_show_off_girl_p_179988.htm He said that he trained just fine his last fight and even changed his diet which he refused to do before. I think his problem is that he fights too tight. It takes more energy when you aren't relaxed.

Sounds good, looks like he is making an effort on improvement. I dont think Taylor is done, I see him coming back strong and I think he is going to beat Abraham.

Taylor is done. I think AA KO's him. If Taylor Fades ( obviously will), Abraham is taking him out.

Taylor is done. I think AA KO's him.

Hopefully this will benefit Taylor. He's a good fighter and with a improvement in stamina, etc, he would be very hard to beat.

I'll believe it when I see it. He's a solid fighter in the first half of the fight. His defense is decent and so is his punch output. But late his defense turns awful and his stamina becomes shit. I'd love to see him overcome his weaknesses and get some big wins. But I don't think it'll happen.

Come on JT!!!..... Im the biggest Winky fan, i think he got robbed vs Jermain, and i still love JT.........that tells you how much of a warrior Taylor is....tough fight after tough fight.... Same here but I'm a Hopkins fan. I'm going to be rooting hard for JT in the tourney, especially against Abraham.

This a good observation. Allan Green makes a pretty convincing one too: I was getting ready to bring up what Green said because I think that's a great point. Luckily for him Abraham isn't a pressure fighter so he should be able to relax in there a little more.

Come on JT!!!..... Im the biggest Winky fan, i think he got robbed vs Jermain, and i still love JT.........that tells you how much of a warrior Taylor is....tough fight after tough fight....

Taylor needs to nail down, do his road work, focus on tactics and be ready for 12 long hard rounds. Someone needs to tell him that if he doesn't get in tip top shape for this next fight he could be seriously risking his health against a beast of an AA at 168.

i really hope taylor can bounce back, he's a worrior and a great boxer, i love tha guy

His best defense is his jab which he abandones and gets lazy with. This a good observation. Allan Green makes a pretty convincing one too: “I think is too nervous. and it’s not because he’s not in shape. I know for a fact that he was in shape for his last fight because we were both in Florida at that time and he was training hard. He just gets so nervous in the ring. He doesn’t fight to attack a guy. He fights to keep a guy off of him. That’s what kills him.” http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=21207

if he polishes up on defense too hed have a good chance of winning this tournament His best defense is his jab which he abandones and gets lazy with. When his jab is on he fires it off and follows it with a great straight right hand. He needs to work on his ring movement and stop going straight back. he ends up on the ropes and in the corners too much where he gets trapped and take too much punishment. I think this is mostly in part to him being tired and instead of bouncing around and side stepping he plants his feet and trades. he has to work on his stamina so he has enough energy to keep moving and hold his hands up my man...Stamina is his biggest issue. His D was never great it was just sub par...He needs better movement...Lefty

if he polishes up on defense too hed have a good chance of winning this tournament

Extra pounds have always been a problem for Taylor. One reason he moved from middleweight to supper middleweight was because of the 8-pound bump in weight limit to 168. Anybody who has ever done a crash diet can agree with those who believe his lack of stamina comes from losing 20 pounds or more at training camp. He might have been pushing 190 when he began training for the Froch fight. Taylor had an insurmountable lead on two of the judges' scorecards when the referee correctly stopped the fight with 14 seconds remaining, underlining the stamina question. * Supposedly, he is working with a nutritionist, running, and working out a couple of times per week — a first-time regimen for Taylor that can be interpreted as an acknowledgment of the problem. If Taylor has truly come to grips with the weight issue, he will be around 173 pounds when he begins training camp at George Foreman's place in Houston on Aug. 8. In that case, he can spend his time on strategy and boxing skills instead of sweating and starving. He doesn't know anybody in Houston so temptations should be less than they were in Miami where he trained for Froch. This is the kind of stuff that I was debating about with REEDICKYALUSS yesterday offline via IM. I think Taylor has the skill set to be awesome but he lacks the training and desire. I think he lost that after he was critizied by lots of fans and critics when he went a few fights with out KO's. He beat one of the best ATG's in Hopkins two times and then everyone expected him to KO the next three or four opponents but he didn;t. If you look at his stretch of fights from Hopkins on...Pretty tough stretch of fighters...You throw in Lacy who i admit is not a top tier fighte but still has heart and some power and then Forch who also in my book is not top tier skill wise but has heart and some pwoer and you have 9 fights inmy mind with out a real ligit tune up. I mean tune up by where yu say oh this fight is bull ish Taylor got it locked....Lefty Hopkins - Win SD Hopkins - Win UD Wright - Draw Ouma - Win UD Spinks - Win SD Pavlik - L TKO Pavlik - L UD

Ok this is a good step forward. Thanks for posting.

i feel taylor is done,he doesnt want too fight after a few rounds,looks scared in their hopefully he proves me wrong in the tourney though