Meldrick Taylor

[yngwie]

It's a shame he didnt have great power, obviously he could hurt people in the ring (as most boxers can in some way) but I imagine him with more power would have been pretty damn great. Been watching couple of his fights again, damn when he throws those ridiculously fast combinations its just beautiful to watch.

I agree that he indeed was hurt in the last seconds of the Chavez fight but damn do I feel bad for him for the glory being lost just by 2 seconds like that. He had a great performance in the fight

What do you guys think, if he would have won that Chavez fight, how different would his career been? or do you think that it might have necessarily not been better?

I see Chavez team pushing for a rematch as close as posible, Taylor wasn't the same after that night so i see Chavez stopping him later and Taylor having a tragic ending similar of the one that he had.

[JAB5239]

The referee doesn't have to stop a fight (or not) based on how much time is left, Taylor was really hurt and the stoppage was good, but he was really unlucky that night.
Anyways, Taylor was a great talent, won the olympic gold at 17 years old, back then he was known already as a tough and talented teenager from Philadelpia who had a great left hook and was extremely fast.
He was a good body puncher, he had a great chin, an awesome combination puncher, but he was too brave for his own good and even with his great foot and handspeed he had the tendency of going into exchanges all the time, with his lack of ko power that put him in a lot of wars.
His fight with Howard Davis was a chessmatch and some of the fastest hands you can see in a ring, his fight against Buddy McGirt was his best performance and his fight against Chavez was his best fight, after that fight, he was never the same, Chavez was the kind of guy who could take something out of you during a fight.

Good post. This is the way I see it as well, top to bottom.

[OctoberRed]

Taylor had all the makings of a future great until the Chavez fight, which I felt he was winning big until the fight dragged out to those late rounds. His hand speed and reflexes were remarkable.

[Anthony342]

If Taylor won (and he should have), no way would his management let him take a rematch so soon after that fight. They'd probably have to wait at least 6 months or maybe more before a rematch, especially if he sees a doctor with any ethics worth a damn. At least then, he wouldn't have to wait years though.

[Zaroku]

Lets talk about the guy. What are your thoughts about him? How high do you rank him? Any fantasy matches that you think would be amazing to see?

I dont know much about Taylor. Seen the legendary match between him and Chavez and the "Legendary Nights" documentary, great piece.

Sad what happened to him. 2 seconds from glory and that fight ruined him, he took bad damage there. And he kept fighting, some how the comissions let him to continue. I was just completely shocked when I watched the legendary nights episode on him and they showed footage of him later on. They compared it to and old interview when he talked normally, then a new one... He was badly punch drunk, couldnt understand what he was saying at all. It was shocking and showed that his brain indeed had taken a lot of damage. It was a crime for them to let him continue

Anyways, been watching some older fights in the last few days and wanted to make some highlight videos. Just saw his fight against Luis Garcia. Some savage exchanges and man does he have some hand speed! Entertaining stuff, want to make a highlight video of him some day now

But what is your opinion on the guy? I dont have much to say about him since I simply dont know much about him. But im interested

I wonder how he would do against todays top fighters. He was a very fast, entertaining and good fighter, also olympic gold winner.

Probably the most beautiful philly fighter ever..mad skills.
He needed to sit down on his punches when he went to war with Chavez.. Chavez kept walking forward. His brain didn't recognize slapping high speed volume punches. Frankie Randall understood this, so did sweet pea!

[Zaroku]

If Taylor won (and he should have), no way would his management let him take a rematch so soon after that fight. They'd probably have to wait at least 6 months or maybe more before a rematch, especially if he sees a doctor with any ethics worth a damn. At least then, he wouldn't have to wait years though.

Do you remember when Taylor was complaining with Lou dubs and some sports guy said, " but didn't you swallow nearly a pint of your own blood? And didn't you suffer a broke jaw or eye socket?" End of that conversation..

[Anthony342]

Oh yeah, no doubt Taylor paid the price. But as pointed out here before, if Chavez had gone to a neutral corner like he was supposed to, he wouldn't have had enough time to throw another punch at Taylor. Taylor and the corner screwed up even more, with Duva distracting Taylor so he couldn't respond to the ref, but Meldrick should've also been focused on responding to Steele and holding out his gloves, as is usually done after a knockdown.

[billeau2]

Yep, too bad the judges didn't feel the same way as Chavez should've also lost to Whitaker and no way the first Randall fight should have been that close. Not saying it was a shut out, but Randall definitely won by more than 1 point, especially with that knockdown. They need to start banning judges like that, like the one that gave Canelo a 118-110 win over Golovkin, Adelaide Byrd or the one who gave Holyfield the nod in the first fight with Lewis. That's why this crap continues, no punishment, like these cops that keep getting acquitted for shooting innocent, unarmed people.

Amen! I hate even thinking about the Whitaker fight, it was a disgrace.

[mexicanstyle]

even if they let him finish the fight and give chavez his first loss damage was already done sinche 8th or 9th rnd plus they fed him to a larger killer terrible terry norris afterward that was career assasination who made the norris fight.the chavez fight was a fair match norris was a superwelter bully who lobbied for a fight against chavez when he was 87'0 light welterweight who always came in under the 140 limit.

[The Old LefHook]

Some men with fighting talent were not given the gift of durability along with it. Terry Norris might be another case. Or maybe it was a punch they took long ago in the gym when they were just starting, and a few times afterward, which has made them more vulnerable. We will never exactly know. Some cannot endure the pounding for years and emerge mentally unscathed. LaMotta and Basilio were meant to endure in the toughest sport. Taylor didn't endure 10% of the punches they took during their careers, but their mentalities were not knocked off center by the punishment.

The fight should never have been stopped. It was a crime in action. Richard Steele is my un-favorite referee ever. Some referees think they are the showmen in the ring. I do not like this type of ref. All their actions and movements in the ring have to be dramatic. Larry Hazzard. I am not saying I hated Hazzard (sp), I may even have liked him. I remember he was very dramatic with his motions in the ring. This by itself cannot make one a lousy referee.

Richard Steele earned his reputation as a bad or dirty referee the old fashioned way--he rendered lousy judgements in the ring.

No surprises. I had as much respect as any man back in the day for the prowess of JCC, and marveled at his technique which allowed fluid double and triple lefhooks to be thrown together seamlessly. But I also kept noticing he was winning decisions from time to time he should have lost. The surgeon and sweatpea both handled him effectively.

Chavez himself could absorb punches like they were nothing. By losing the fight unofficially, Chavez showed he was the better man and precluded the necessity for rematches because Taylor was shot after the first fight, a shell; Chavez had destroyed his spirit and resistance.

My personal belief is that punch resistance trumps every other department in boxing except the willingness to train and compete hard. It is more important than even punching hard. Every pro boxer will get smacked eventually.