Meldrick Taylor vs Chavez I: what are your thoughts on this fight?

[CarlosG815]

fair enough

I was told that the Norris fight did the most damage

I assume he means mentally... I would agree that the Chavez fight ruined Taylor mentally...

[武士道]

I was told that the Norris fight did the most damage

Whoever told you that should re-watch and compare the two fights.

Taylor got a fairly compassionate stoppage against Norris and didn’t look too worse for wear at the end. Against Chavez he looked like he’d been in a car crash and had the lasting injuries to match.

[BigStereotype]

Great, great fight. Maybe my favorite ever. I think that the stoppage was justified because Steele's not a timekeeper as he himself said. He felt that Taylor couldn't continue and he had no idea how little time left was on the clock. Is it one he wants back? Probably. But at that exact moment, it was a good stoppage. If that fight had been scheduled for 15, there would be no debate about it.

[The Surgeon]

Great, great fight. Maybe my favorite ever. I think that the stoppage was justified because Steele's not a timekeeper as he himself said. He felt that Taylor couldn't continue and he had no idea how little time left was on the clock. Is it one he wants back? Probably. But at that exact moment, it was a good stoppage. If that fight had been scheduled for 15, there would be no debate about it.

I agree with u BST, Both in that it was one of the greatest and that Steele was justified in his call. U know what im gonna go watch that ***** right now!

[joseph5620]

Great, great fight. Maybe my favorite ever. I think that the stoppage was justified because Steele's not a timekeeper as he himself said. He felt that Taylor couldn't continue and he had no idea how little time left was on the clock. Is it one he wants back? Probably. But at that exact moment, it was a good stoppage. If that fight had been scheduled for 15, there would be no debate about it.

He knew exactly how much time was left because Referees are notified when there are 10 seconds left in the round. Steele never forced Chavez to a neutral corner. Steel never asked Taylor to walk towards him. All basic things a referee is supposed to be aware of and enforce. Horrible stoppage in a championship fight and there is no justification for it. Steele knew what he was doing in more ways than one. I also get sick of hearing about how much punishment Taylor had taken as if that was Steele's primary concern. If that was true Steele would have stopped it before the knockdown but he never came close to doing it. And neither did the ring Doctor. As far as if it had been 15, that's irrelevant. It wasn't a 15 round fight.

[Thread Stealer]

I haven't watched any of his fights directly after that one, but didn't he become a world champ again?

Yeah, he went up in weight and won the WBA WW title against Aaron Davis. That's probably his 2nd best win.

He lost something though, not just from taking a terrible physical beating, but also moving up in weight. He said he had weight problems at 140, the Chavez bout was his last one there (until the long overdue rematch in 1994, when he was most likely just desperate for a big fight).

He was small in height/dimensions for WW, especially given his fighting style. He wasn't a big puncher either.

I don't think Taylor ever would've had much longevity at the highest level of the sport due to his style and the talent level at WW at the time. S. Brown, Whitaker, Trinidad, Quartey, Espana, etc...all at WW or about to go to WW within a couple years.

Team Taylor also shamelessly cashed out on him against Terry Norris. Taylor was showing signs of decline, he was dropped twice in a title defense against Glenwood Brown and the way he reacted to taking shots was troubling. In addition to the KDs, he was stunned a couple other times, and he had this sort of pause when he got tagged clean. We saw this again in the Chavez rematch a couple years later. Taylor was doing better than expected in the first few rounds of that fight, but when Chavez did land clean, it didn't look good for Taylor. He'd have this pause and stop thing when he got hit.

So what does his management do after the Brown fight? They have him go up in weight again to fight Terry Norris at a catch weight! I've always had a problem with Lou Duva letting that fight happen, in addition to his instructions before round 12 against Chavez.

Taylor always would've been given hell by the style and size of Espana, who was his mandatory.

[ralph22]

lets get 1 thing straight back then u they didnt had the TAP-TAP wich meant 10 seconds left only a flashing red light chavez rocke taylor bad at sec25 then keep landing intill the last right hand came taylor went down holding the ropes didnt respond to questions if steele had ask him walk to me he would of not been abale to walk good stopage taylor was destroyed 4 straight days urine pure blood facial fracture brain damage and was for ever shot taylor post fight condition tells you it was correct.on the fight well since then there hasnt been a better greater fight corrales-castillo didnt even came close to the chavez-taylor like lampley said you just dont see no better fights

[Wild Blue Yonda]

In reference to Taylor's defense, you never hear it mentioned anymore but he suffered a significant knee injury the year before. It limited his movement a bit, & might've contributed to his ultimate downfall. I wouldn't be surprised.

I won't touch on my thoughts regarding the stoppage itself & whether I endorse it or I don't, but I will say that Taylor is more myth than reality, in terms of how good he is, or was going to be.

Edit: One thing more. Far & wide, the criticism goes out toward Duva & Benton regarding their instructions for Taylor & the final round. I would just like to say one thing in their defense --- Duva & Benton were old heads, well-schooled in the wheelings & dealings of what it meant to be up against a Don King fighter. They'd personally experienced the thieving corruption of those touched by King's influence, as well as having seen it happen to others around them.

Maybe I'm being a little soft but, call me crazy, I can understand why Duva & Benton were willing Taylor to finish strongly. It only takes a strong round or two near the finish line for King's money to be the difference --- sometimes, not even that.

[jvsnypes]

It was a great fight with a poor, horrible, unfair ending. It was heartbreaking to see how Steele took that great perfomance away from Meldrick. Don't get me wrong, Chavez gave him a beating, but Meldrick outpointed him. The outcome changed who Meldrick was as a man and fighter.After that fight, his career was handled poorly. They put him in there with guys that were too big for him. The beating he took from Terry Norris was unnecessary. He had no business being in the ring with a jr middleweight.

[Filipino Floyd]

One of my favorite fights of all-time. I only feel bad for Taylor when I see how he is today. I think a fighter is a product of their trainer and Taylor's trainer is an idiot. I think his jumping onto the apron distracted Taylor when Steele was asking him if he could continue. The fact that Steele asked Taylor numerous times, more than most refs give fighters, if he could continue tells me that Steele didn't want to stop the fight. The fact that Taylor was somewhat clueless and didn't answer Steele's question, did him in. Man, what a fight!!!!