Meldrick Taylor vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

[warp1432]

This is one of those fights that everyone expects to be a good high paced match, however it turns out to be a war.

I just have a feeling that this would turn out into one of those classic brawls. For the match up itself, I think it's very close, but Mayweather would be just a little bit sneakier and throwing at just the right time to get Taylor from throwing 4 or 5 punches. However Taylor would win rounds by overwhelming Mayweather too, but I think Mayweather would come back with shots of his own.

Mayweather can be very very sneaky on inside and if you uses just the right lateral movement, I think he could beat Taylor.

[Dorian]

Floyd Mayweather Jr

[QUISQUEYA]

Offensively, they are close. Defensively? In completely different leagues.

Floyd would pull away. Once mayweather got Mel's timing and speed, PBF would win 4 or 5 of the last six rounds.

[wmute]

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.

1) 2-3 time faster than Judah I doubt.. surely extremely fast and hecne fast enough to bother Mayweather plenty.

2) Combination punching would make a great fight, but not be a big advantage as Mayweather threw an abundance of combos at 140.

3) This would be Mel's downfall IMO. While all his talents, skills and fundamentals and most intangibles are excellent (spectacular in fact), he would be in with a fighter who is one of the most amazing thinker the game saw. EVER. Mel would have a lot of success earlier and it would be a hell of a fight throughout the 12 rounds, but Mayweather not only comes out with good plans, he adjust like few fighters can do, his timing is great (see part 1). And I wouldnt quite say he beat Chavez at his own game. He surely piled up more rounds, looked great while doing it, and deserved the win (**** DK and Richard Steele), but he was busted up so bad that I wouldnt say he beat Chavez at his own game.

4) You could say something like that for Mayweather at 140, probably because of accuracy and speed, he is able to accumulate a lot of sharp accurate punches on his opponents' chin those hurt.

5) See 3) it would make a great fight, but not good for him.

For these reasons I would see Mayweather coming out on top. By decision, UNLESS Taylor is sensibly behind late in the fight, because Taylor would give his heart rather than losing and might eventually get stopped. But I dont see that happening, as Mayweather might not have enough to stop Taylor, and even if he did he might not need to stop an opponent who is getting desperate while he is ahead on cards.

My take on beating Mayweather if you are his own size is that you need either a Duran or Pryor type of performances. What I mean is that not only you need a special fighter to do that, but you also need a very complete and smart fighter who is able to adapt when Mayweather does that. Or alternatively a human whirlwind with an iron chin. Taylor lacks the mentality (but not the skills) to fight like Duran, and has a more measured and paced attack than Pryor.

It would be a hell of a fight.

My final notes would be that Mel was relatively untested (although his performance against McGirt is spectacular), compared to Mayweather and I bet that there will be enough Mayweather haters who never even saw Taylor, but will still pick him to win, to partially balance out the nuthuggers.

[Silencers]

I think Taylor had a tendency to go to war a little too often and that would play against him with Mayweather. I think Mayweather would counter Taylor so that Taylor wouldn't be able get his rhythm going to let his hands go to throw those awesome combinations, especially down the stretch. Mayweather by decision in a good fight.

[Fox McCloud]

Mayweather could KO every so-called "good" fighter from Philadelphia in one night.

That town hasn't produced a single good fighter.



I have only seen Taylor fight twice (Chavez I, Chavez II), and I don't really think that is enough to make an accurate prediction for this fight. It is also damn near impossible for me to pick, considering Chavez fights in an anti-Mayweather style.

I just got a great idea for another one of these type of threads.

[Steak]

Meldrick was fast as hell, threw a wide variety of punches and threw a lot of them. and in combinations as well. I also think he had a fairly underrated jab. he would switch between the body and the head in his combinations consistently. all these things put together leads me to believe Meldrick Taylor would have won via points.

Mayweather by KO/TKO makes me laugh a bit. not sure who voted that...

Im kind of confused. If an older De La Hoya can do well against Mayweather using combinations and the jab, I dont get why Meldrick Taylor cant do it...and all due respect to De La Hoya, but Taylor was faster and overall just better than today's De La Hoya.

I feel like Taylor's win over Buddy McGirt is extremely underrated, and McGirt in general is a very underrated fighter. I mean McGirt was damn good, but most people probebly only know him as a trainer nowadays. a shame.

[Scott9945]

Meldrick was fast as hell, threw a wide variety of punches and threw a lot of them. and in combinations as well. I also think he had a fairly underrated jab. he would switch between the body and the head in his combinations consistently. all these things put together leads me to believe Meldrick Taylor would have won via points.

Mayweather by KO/TKO makes me laugh a bit. not sure who voted that...

Im kind of confused. If an older De La Hoya can do well against Mayweather using combinations and the jab, I dont get why Meldrick Taylor cant do it...and all due respect to De La Hoya, but Taylor was faster and overall just better than today's De La Hoya.

I feel like Taylor's win over Buddy McGirt is extremely underrated, and McGirt in general is a very underrated fighter. I mean McGirt was damn good, but most people probebly only know him as a trainer nowadays. a shame.

I definitely agree with your last paragraph. McGirt was an outstanding fighter and had a borderline hall of fame career. You never hear that mentioned by commentators during fights. The funny thing is that Gatti will probably make the HOF, and McGirt would have cleaned his clock.

[Thread Stealer]

I definitely agree with your last paragraph. McGirt was an outstanding fighter and had a borderline hall of fame career. You never hear that mentioned by commentators during fights. The funny thing is that Gatti will probably make the HOF, and McGirt would have cleaned his clock.

Just think about it. Arturo Gatti is more likely than not to be in Canastota.

Right now, Julian Jackson, Brian Mitchell, Marlon Starling, Donald Curry, Esteban Dejesus, Rodrigo Valdez, and Marvin Johnson are all eligible for Canastota and I don't believe any of those guys have been inducted.

[Scott9945]

Just think about it. Arturo Gatti is more likely than not to be in Canastota.

Right now, Julian Jackson, Brian Mitchell, Marlon Starling, Donald Curry, Esteban Dejesus, Rodrigo Valdez, and Marvin Johnson are all eligible for Canastota and I don't believe any of those guys have been inducted.

Every year when they announce the new inductees I make my case for Danny "Little Red" Lopez. You look at his record, and I guarantee you if he had been from New York he would have been in 10 years ago.