Why So Much Hate for Jermain Taylor?

[small_warrior]

there are enough prooven fighter as middleweight. edison miranda, pavlik, felix sturm, arthur abraham, howard eastman, randy griffin... they are all beter than spinks at middleweight. but i don't hate taylor, he's a good fighter and a nice guy

[-EX-]

Taylor will never please everyone. There isn't one thing about him that is exceptional. He has bad footwork but has fast hands and power. He does make mistakes in every fight. He will not be able to please everyone but he knows how to win. I thought he would get a little more respect since he is known as a very good guy.

[Njord777]

The verdict is still out on Jermain Taylor. Why? If he fights solid boxers, shows athleticism and skill, if he seems like a good person- why are so many still unsure about him? Why do some dislike him?

Well, that's simple. Put it into context. Bernard Hopkins, Taylor's predecessor, stuck around so long he became respected by most everyone in the sport. He had many convincing wins- and his last fight was another dominating performance. In many ways Jermain Taylor is in the shadow of Hopkins. He is replacing the man and has to win over not only new fans, as a somewhat unknown, but also win over all of those that loved Hopkins.

So what has the new champion done? Well, he fought Hopkins twice. The young, athletic Taylor was unable to do much more than win close decisions- and many saw his wins attributed to Hopkins not being aggressive enough. Regardless of how you saw the fight there was no sound beating, or rise from the ashes for Taylor. He won close fights, twice, and Hopkins went on to fight other fights. Taylor did not enter as the man who soundly beat, battered, and punished an aging champion. He entered as the man who barely got it done- but did. Not much for heaping accolades.

Next Taylor, whom after the Hopkins fights is not seen as the next Bernard by almost anyone, fights Winky Wright. What happens? A draw? Not a strong, awe inspiring performance- which he needed to win over public approval. A draw- which some even say was a loss. Now you had a guy who barely beat the last champion in many eyes barely not getting beat by a smaller man who has little business at middleweight.

So then Taylor takes on a smaller, out gunned, Ouma. He wins definitively- but many fans just aren't sold on him after his performances against Hopkins and Wright. He needed to take a fighter whom many saw as unable to hurt him and really show him what a strong, young middleweight champion could do. In other words- for Taylor to be respected he needed to lay Ouma out. Fair, unfair, a ridiculous demand- call it what you will- people wanted Taylor to own Kassim.

So now you have a young middlweight champion taking over for the aging great. How did he beat him? Barely. Then he fights a defensive, smaller man in Wright- and gets a draw. A small Ouma? Can't finish him. Why do people dislike Taylor? Well, because he hasn't made them like him. Supposedly Taylor bring youth, strength and athleticism- but most haven't seen that from him thus far.

To be a strong, defining champion you need a break-out performance with the belt around your waist. Either in capturing the championship or while defending it. Taylor has not had that performance. He's had two close wins, a draw, and a performance that did not live up to what people wanted to see. If he's a big, athletic fighter as he it touted to be he needs to fight like it.

How does Taylor get out of this cloud? How does he shake off people not liking him, or saying ' Taylor isn't that good...'? Honestly, I feel he needs to have that career-defining, champion affirming performance. Knocking out a Mora in five- brutally, definitively, and harshly. Taking a Spinks and bull-rushing him all fight before stopping him from the amount of punishment he dishes out.

Taylor needs to prove he deserves to be champion. For many he has yet to do that. Nothing they saw against Hopkins, Wright, or Ouma made them love, or even respect him. Not enough to be champion. Taylor can't just have a good night. He no longer has the luxury of showing he is a solid fighter. As the successor to Bernard Hopkins, as middleweight champion of the world, he needs to have a great night. A performance that those who are unsure about him look at and say, "Maybe I missed something about this guy..."

If he fails to hurt people in his fights, or knock someone out, or have that type of performance people are going to dislike him. Why? Because they don't feel like he's worthy of the championship or what was once Bernard Hopkins' crown. Taylor has done enough to be appreciated as a good boxer- but not enough to be respected as a worthy champion.

[TheEvilSaint]

who in the good **** would ever pay money to see spinks/taylor? there is no money in that fight at all. no ****in' way would that snoozer ever sell.

taylor's a product. he would have never made it this far on his own. what's there to like about him? hes not exciting, hes not slick, hes not devastating, hes not dominant, he has no traits of a champion. hes a product.

[Hitman932]

who in the good **** would ever pay money to see spinks/taylor? there is no money in that fight at all. no ****in' way would that snoozer ever sell.

taylor's a product. he would have never made it this far on his own. what's there to like about him? hes not exciting, hes not slick, hes not devastating, hes not dominant, he has no traits of a champion. hes a product.

i for one would drop 50 bucks on a PPV for taylor/spinks... why?

cause 50 dollars is a small price to pay to see an asswipe like corey spinks get KTFO

i know there are other people who would do it for the same reason

plus for your money you get the bonus of cunningham cussin corey out in between rounds

[Undefeated]

People have nothing better to do than to just hate. I like Taylor, everyone seems to hate him, I don't know why though. That Winky fight was really close and saying that Taylor got a gift draw decison is stupid.

[Chipper]

Yeah Taylor just doesn't fight like a champ, it seems like he doesn't put all 100% of himself into a fight. He does just enough to...not lose against the tough compition. I'll respect him when he starts fighting the top contenders in the Middleweight division not junior middleweight.

And theres talk about Taylor fighting Roy Jones Jr in the fall, he's ducking the real contenders in his division.

[-Antonio-]

Taylor will go down as a better fighter than Hopkins. Under Steward's guidance, he will eventually get better. He does so many things wrong and still wins. You have to give him that. I thought he lost to Winky, but Winky had issues with a 60-40 purse in the rematch. Thats not Jermain's fault.

[-Antonio-]

Yeah Taylor just doesn't fight like a champ, it seems like he doesn't put all 100% of himself into a fight. He does just enough to...not lose against the tough compition. I'll respect him when he starts fighting the top contenders in the Middleweight division not junior middleweight.

And theres talk about Taylor fighting Roy Jones Jr in the fall, he's ducking the real contenders in his division.

He beat Hopkins and drew with Wright. Who is he ducking?

[Easy-E]

who in the good **** would ever pay money to see spinks/taylor? there is no money in that fight at all. no ****in' way would that snoozer ever sell.

taylor's a product. he would have never made it this far on his own. what's there to like about him? hes not exciting, hes not slick, hes not devastating, hes not dominant, he has no traits of a champion. hes a product.

products dont beat bernard hopkins.