Is Jermaine Taylor the worst middleweight champion ever!!?

[The Troll]

BEEEP

wrong call

La Motta must have had underrated defense since he was rarely cut for an italian forward coming fighter. La Motta was strong enough to bully most fighters around the ring and was good on the inside.

He did, he wasn't really easy to hit, and he hit hard, he'd break you down to the body, very effective body puncher, people just know him for having a great chin because Robinson never was able to knock him down in 6 fights, but that's largely due to the fact LaMotta was winning alot of the rounds through those brutal 6 fights, with his head movement, defense, effective body and head punching, he was a great fighter all around.

[The Troll]

The idea of Taylor beating LaMotta is just ridiculous to me. LaMotta would f**k him up.

[frankpaganini]

Or least in since say the 50's.

Before him just off hand you had

Bernard Hopkins
James Toney
Michael Nunn
Thomas Hearns
Marvin Hagler
Vito Antifermo
Carlos Monzon

**** Tiger

Gene Fullmer
Ray Robinson
Jake Lamotta

And there were plenty of other great middleweights out there who might not have been considered as champion, especially in the 80's, 50's, 60's, even the early 90's.

he's a good fighter...

he beat hopkins twice... (in my opinion) so there is one middleweight champion he was better than (he took the title from him...and beat him the second time also).

taylor doesnt have alot of flash to him but he's good overall...

yeah the fight with spinks was bad but not 100% his fault...spinks is also to blame but just looking at the match you could tell it wasnt going to be a good, rough, stand toe to toe and slug it out type of fight...and it also didnt help that miranda and pavlik was on the undercard...that fight had so much excitement that it would make just about any ordinary fight look terrible.

taylor beat hopkins...
a draw with wright (i personally think he lost this fight...i had it 115-113 for winky).


now coming up next month he has a chance to prove himself a bit more against and man with TONS of power...a height and reach advantage over him...thats kelly pavlik.

taylor wont want to fight him toe to toe for obvious reasons (he's probably get knockout out like miranda).

taylor has made i forgot how many defenses of his title which is great...

i think if he can beat pavlik convincingly then most of his critics will lay off of him a bit...

taylor is no lamotta, robinson, hagler, or hearns but he's good...definately not a paperweight champ.

[frankpaganini]

He did, he wasn't really easy to hit, and he hit hard, he'd break you down to the body, very effective body puncher, people just know him for having a great chin because Robinson never was able to knock him down in 6 fights, but that's largely due to the fact LaMotta was winning alot of the rounds through those brutal 6 fights, with his head movement, defense, effective body and head punching, he was a great fighter all around.

i agree...

and to whoever said taylor would beat lamotta...i have to strongly disagree.

no way

[The Troll]

he's a good fighter...

he beat hopkins twice... (in my opinion) so there is one middleweight champion he was better than (he took the title from him...and beat him the second time also).
taylor doesnt have alot of flash to him but he's good overall...

.

He was over 40 years old!!!

[frankpaganini]

He was over 40 years old!!!

thats a good excuse...but im sure no one said anything when he beat winky at 42 right?

if he can beat winky at 42 then there is no excuse why he lost to taylor at 40 (at least you cant use his age as an excuse)

[The Troll]

thats a good excuse...but im sure no one said anything when he beat winky at 42 right?

if he can beat winky at 42 then there is no excuse why he lost to taylor at 40 (at least you cant use his age as an excuse)

I don't regard Winky that highly, and he himself is what 36? Tarver is also an older fighter and someone I dont regard that highly.

[The Troll]

The Hopkins that fought Taylor was not nearly the fighter of years before. Look at his fights prior against Eastman etc...

Hardly any gas in the tank to go 12 rounds.

[Southpaw16]

He had 2 wins over Bernard Hopkins. So no, he is not the worst middleweight champion ever. I don't care if Hopkins beat him up more in those fights, if you are scoring on the ten point system they are legitimate wins. I've noticed a lot of people who thought Taylor won after the the fight now backtracking and saying that Hopkins won now that Taylor isn't as popular. I'm sticking to my guns, Taylor won the fights!!!

He might be the most uninspiring middleweight champ ever, but Jermain Taylor is a very good fighter. He is fast, strong, and very explosive. He just doesn't have that ability to really think in the ring which is what causes him to look bad against a guy like Spinks who is hard to track down.

One thing that excites me about Taylor versus Pavlik is that is the type of fight where a star is about to be made, regardless of who wins, as long as the win is convincing. It is going to be an explosive fight, and whoever comes out of that fight is going to be a middleweight champ that we can get excited about. Taylor wins, as far as I'm concerned he is right back on track. If Pavlik wins he is on his way to being one of the sports biggest superstars.

[SkillspayBills]

Lamotta had to fight Robinson 5 times before getting a title shot.

Times have changed since than,some things about theat time are much different than this one. Give Jermain at least a little credit for waht he has done.