Who Is Protected Now? Jermain Taylor Ducks Carl Froch

[Easy-E]

The facts:

The WBC ordered Carl Froch and Jermain Taylor, its #1 and #2 SMWS to face off for the WBC title imposing an August #1 deadline for purse bids.

The Froch Camp offered Taylor 1.25 millon dollars for the fight.

The Taylor camp have turned it down and prefer to face Jeff Lacy with no belt at stake.

My thoughts:

I fully understand that Jermain Taylor has had some nasty losses recently and needs to get back on his feet. My question? Why on earth can't the supposedly 'elite' Taylor, who has in the past beaten Bernard Hopkins, do this against Carl Froch, who in the past has beaten nobody.

I thought 'true champions fought the best', in this case it appears that Taylor is not even prepared to try to be a champion, and will not even fight the distinctly average.

Instead he is going to stay at home and take a payday by taking on Jeff Lacy, thats right, a US domestic fighter he should beat easily.

This my friends is what we call 'being protected'.

Thoughts?

It is evident that Taylor wants exposure against a relativly big name.
He is from the United States, and will be fighting in the United States.
Why face a no name from Europe with no commercial value???

[BattlingNelson]

I understand that. A lot of Yanks are very insulated and quite ignorant to whats going on outside their own country.

Again, how can Froch fight the top guys when none of them want to fight?

Hes been calling out Calzaghe. Taylor doesnt want to fight him. He offered a huge line of people (Miranda, Kessler, Berrio) Inkin's spot when he pulled out and none of them wanted it.
Once again, how can he fight a top guy when they dont wanna fight him? This is the crux of the argument.

Who are you kidding? Of course not. Who would want such a fight with 10 days notice?

Noone is ducking Froch. He's just not a big enough name yet. Let him pick up the belt against Pascal and then the possibilities should widen.

[Clegg]

Did you miss the part where the OP admitted that he started this thread as an angry response to people hating on Calzaghe? Unrelated? Right.

Fair point.

Hennessey/DiBella were ORDERED into negotiations by the WBC, which happened AFTER team Taylor had publicly stated their interest in a matchup with Lacy.

Taylor could've simply said he didn't want the fight from quite some time ago Calzaghe was ordered to defend against Froch, but instead he gave up the belt. Taylor could do the exact same thing, but he hasn't.

The WBC has forced this situation, not Taylor. The are asking Taylor to take a hit in pay to fight a less known fighter. Just because Froch doesn't have a better opportunity right now and is being strung along doesn't mean that the more popular, more lucrative Taylor should be blamed for weighing his options, which means waiting for tonight's result in the Lacy fight.

Yes it does. I've explained my reasons why so there's no point repeating them. All you've said in response is that it's the WBC's fault. Sorry, but as already stated, Taylor could've turned the fight down long before now. Instead he chose to wait.

[Clegg]

It is evident that Taylor wants exposure against a relativly big name.
He is from the United States, and will be fighting in the United States.
Why face a no name from Europe with no commercial value???

Because there is a WBC title on the line.

[box2box]

Dumb really, Taylor should go and beat Froch, let Lacy take another belt then make his lacy fight into a unification bout.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Jermain will take the fight and i will bet most of my points that Taylor out boxes him badly. Froach reminds me of a bigger version of Vic Darchinayin and it will only be a matter of time until an elusive boxer, straight puncher and top echlon fighter gets to him. Taylor has never ducked anyone. Froach has beaten no one. He is a good fighter, but Taylor has bad intentions.

[dstew]

Taylor could've simply said he didn't want the fight from quite some time ago Calzaghe was ordered to defend against Froch, but instead he gave up the belt. Taylor could do the exact same thing, but he hasn't.

Calzaghe also fought Hopkins and was eyeing a fight with either Jones or Pavlik before he said he wouldn't defend against Froch. How long between his last defense and when he vacated on June 28? Almost eight months. How long did Froch sit around as Calzaghe's mandatory before he vacated? Three months. Don't make Calzaghe out to be some kind of hero here by "giving up the belt"; he held Froch up longer than anyone. Taylor's not even made him wait a month so far.

Yes it does. I've explained my reasons why so there's no point repeating them. All you've said in response is that it's the WBC's fault. Sorry, but as already stated, Taylor could've turned the fight down long before now. Instead he chose to wait.

Yes, Taylor could've turned down the fight a few weeks ago when it was first offered to him. He's got another potential offer on the horizon though, and he is the cash cow in this deal so the WBC gave him until the end of the month to make an educated decision. I don't think that's unreasonable.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Who are you kidding? Of course not. Who would want such a fight with 10 days notice?

Noone is ducking Froch. He's just not a big enough name yet. Let him pick up the belt against Pascal and then the possibilities should widen.

Actually they were offered it when Inkin first pulled out giving them sufficient time to train for it.

Fact is that people are asking who Froch has beat whilst the top names dont want to know. It just seems a contradiction to me.

[Clegg]

Calzaghe also fought Hopkins and was eyeing a fight with either Jones or Pavlik before he said he wouldn't defend against Froch. How long between his last defense and when he vacated on June 28? Almost eight months. How long did Froch sit around as Calzaghe's mandatory before he vacated? Three months. Don't make Calzaghe out to be some kind of hero here by "giving up the belt"; he held Froch up longer than anyone. Taylor's not even made him wait a month so far.

Lol make Calzaghe out to be a hero? I've criticised him several times for his recent decisions, among other things. My point was that being told to do something by the WBC doesn't mean that you have to. You are free to tell them that you don't want to fight for their belt.

But in my view, Calzaghe did not leave Froch hanging on in the same way. He made it clear that he didn't want the fight and as far as I know no negotiations took place. There was never any "maybe, maybe not" about the situation. Again though, this is irrelevant because I wasn't saying that Calzaghe had behaved perfectly, only giving an example of how the WBC's "orders" can easily be ignored.

You act as if I'm biased, but then you post a link saying about Froch being named mandatory on 28th April. Calzaghe relinquished before 28th of June, so it was less than 2 months. How exactly is that 3 months?

From an article on 28th June: Froch's promoter Mick Hennessy added: "I've been speaking with Lou DiBella for a while now and I just hope they don't start opting for easier fights for Jermain. This could be a massive fight."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7479254.stm

So it would appear that discussions for the fight have been going on for longer than "less than a month".

Yes, Taylor could've turned down the fight a few weeks ago when it was first offered to him. He's got another potential offer on the horizon though, and he is the cash cow in this deal so the WBC gave him until the end of the month to make an educated decision. I don't think that's unreasonable.

In my opinion, he should've turned down the fight sooner. I am happy to agree to disagree about that.

[boxaholic]

Jermain will take the fight and i will bet most of my points that Taylor out boxes him badly. Froach reminds me of a bigger version of Vic Darchinayin and it will only be a matter of time until an elusive boxer, straight puncher and top echlon fighter gets to him. Taylor has never ducked anyone. Froach has beaten no one. He is a good fighter, but Taylor has bad intentions.

With fights on his resume like Hopkins, Wright, Pavlik how can Taylor duck any one. Lacy is a better fight for him than FROCH. Froch is another european fighter that has die hard fans make up for his lack of oppositions.