Meldrick Taylor vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

[ßringer]

Earlier today in a thread created by Addition, he posed the question: "If you were a trainer and your fighter was training for Mayweather, what would you advise him to do". I made a reply that said "Get in a time machine and go back and pick up a prime Meldrick Taylor.". Nobody really responded, and it got me thinking about a hypothetical matchup.

Taylor was his best at 140lbs, Mayweather at 130lbs. Mayweather has been damn good at Welterweight as well but hasn't fought any natural Welterweights in a while (Oscar is junior Middle and Hatton is light Welter).

So say the fight took place at 140lbs, a weight in which both fighters were comfortable, who do you think takes this?

I say Meldrick Taylor wins a decision. It's not because I'm biased towards philly fighters, or that Meldrick is a hometown hero either. Here are some facts that make my decision.

1.) At his peak, Meldrick Taylor had hand speed that even Sugar Ray Leonard stood in awe of (Leonard himself admitted this on HBO's "Legendary Nights" episode of Chavez/Taylor). Mayweather had trouble early adjusting to Judah's handpseed, and Taylor's is twice if not three times what Judah's was.

2.) Combinations. Everything Meldrick did was in fluid combination with the punch that preceeded it. He was poetry in motion, flowed like water. An equal opportunity punisher who mixed headshots up with brutal body assaults.

3.) He's a scrapper. Despite being one of the most technically gifted boxers I've ever seen, he had the heart of a warrior. He could've easily beaten anybody he was in the ring with on points alone, but whenever he got tagged he always engaged. This is why he went toe-to-toe with the most punishing punchers in the sport Chavez, and beat him at his own game inside.

4.) Power. Meldrick's power was deceptive. I myself am not even sure if it was a derivative of his amazing speed, cat-like reflexes, or a combination of both. But he certainly had a lot of pop in his punches.

5.) Aggression. Meldrick wouldn't wait around for an opening on Floyd, he would stalk him and force an opening and take advantage of it.

I expect Mayweather to win the public poll thanks to all of his nuthugging groupies, but I would like some intelligent input here in post form from othe,r non-biased users.

[KnockoutTheFat]

How old was Meldrick Taylor when he peaked?

[slicksouthpaw16]

Earlier today in a thread created by Addition, he posed the question: "If you were a trainer and your fighter was training for Mayweather, what would you advise him to do". I made a reply that said "Get in a time machine and go back and pick up a prime Meldrick Taylor.". Nobody really responded, and it got me thinking about a hypothetical matchup.

Taylor was his best at 140lbs, Mayweather at 130lbs. Mayweather has been damn good at Welterweight as well but hasn't fought any natural Welterweights in a while (Oscar is junior Middle and Hatton is light Welter).

So say the fight took place at 140lbs, a weight in which both fighters were comfortable, who do you think takes this?

I say Meldrick Taylor wins a decision. It's not because I'm biased towards philly fighters, or that Meldrick is a hometown hero either. Here are some facts that make my decision.

1.) At his peak, Meldrick Taylor had hand speed that even Sugar Ray Leonard stood in awe of (Leonard himself admitted this on HBO's "Legendary Nights" episode of Chavez/Taylor). Mayweather had trouble early adjusting to Judah's handpseed, and Taylor's is twice if not three times what Judah's was.

2.) Combinations. Everything Meldrick did was in fluid combination with the punch that preceeded it. He was poetry in motion, flowed like water. An equal opportunity punisher who mixed headshots up with brutal body assaults.

3.) He's a scrapper. Despite being one of the most technically gifted boxers I've ever seen, he had the heart of a warrior. He could've easily beaten anybody he was in the ring with on points alone, but whenever he got tagged he always engaged. This is why he went toe-to-toe with the most punishing punchers in the sport Chavez, and beat him at his own game inside.

4.) Power. Meldrick's power was deceptive. I myself am not even sure if it was a derivative of his amazing speed, cat-like reflexes, or a combination of both. But he certainly had a lot of pop in his punches.

5.) Aggression. Meldrick wouldn't wait around for an opening on Floyd, he would stalk him and force an opening and take advantage of it.

I expect Mayweather to win the public poll thanks to all of his nuthugging groupies, but I would like some intelligent input here in post form from othe,r non-biased users.

Very good all around post and i definitely agree. Taylor had the perfect style to beat Mayweather and you could make a strong case that he was pound for pound the fastest fighter of all time. That busy style and fast combination volume punching would be a nightmare for a slick boxer such as Mayweather who needs room to work and get his punches off. Taylor could smother Mayweather and bring educated pressure. Meldrick was also a very good pure boxer as well when he would stick to his game.

[Scott9945]

It's just my opinion, but the people picking Taylor to beat Floyd are out of their ****ing minds. Floyd would have won rather easily.

[ßringer]

How old was Meldrick Taylor when he peaked?

Opinions vary on this. I'm under the impression that Meldrick was in his prime for the first Chavez fight in 1990, which would've made him 23 I believe.

[ßringer]

It's just my opinion, but the people picking Taylor to beat Floyd are out of their ****ing minds. Floyd would have won rather easily.

How? Mayweather is a defensive fighter, Meldrick's style would've caused him serious problems. Because Meldrick was aggressive, fast, had a high workrate, could box as well as Floyd, and had some serious pop in his shots.

I don't mind the input but be a little more specific.

[slicksouthpaw16]

It's just my opinion, but the people picking Taylor to beat Floyd are out of their ****ing minds. Floyd would have won rather easily.

Explain, because i couldn't see anyone in history that could beat Taylor easily. He was faster than Mayweather, buiser, naturally bigger, more fluent, had better footspeed and a more diverse arsenal.

[ßringer]

Who are the two nitwits who voted that Floyd would knock out Meldrick? Last time I checked Mayweather was no Chavez.

[The Gambler1981]

It is really a 50/50 fight to me. If either one was off in the slightest it would show up in how the fight would play out. Meldrick would have to overwhelm PBF with punches, he could not hurt him with one shot(most likely) but if he could last the distance with PBF he would probably have the advantage on the cards.
I think that PBF is the smarter fighter though with and would counter punch the **** out of Meldrick and land lead right hands all night. I don't think either of them would get knocked out.
It comes down to what you like in a fighter aggression, punches in bunches and flash or defence,accuracy, counterpunching and ring generalship.

[ßringer]

Meldrick was also very quick to respond when he got hit, it was instant. So if Floyd was planning a counterpunching attack I don't see how it would work that well. See my sig banner for video of Meldrick Flurrying Chavez, Chavez lands a massive bomb on Meldrick that Taylor responds to immediately. If he could do that to Chavez, I don't see how he couldn't do it to Floyd.