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by David P. Greisman - They were two young stars, too good to be true. They were two chosen ones who went to the top too soon.
Jermain Taylor and Jeff Lacy had crossed paths before, teammates sharing a room when their futures were bright and the skies were the limit, when the 2000 Olympics were the end of one era and the beginning of another.
Eight years after, Taylor and Lacy shared a ring when their futures were in question and the sky was falling, when only one could win, rising again toward stardom, while the other would wind up star-crossed, crashing and burning.
Taylor took the victory, winning nearly every round on all three judges’ scorecards. Those tallies, 119-109, 119-109 and 118-110, gave “Bad Intentions” a clear decision, a new direction and a second chance. What those numbers represented meant that “Left Hook” as he once was had left the building, left behind in the second tier.
There were once whole years Taylor had gone without losing a round, back in the years before he’d ever even lost a fight. Those were the years when the junior middleweight bronze medalist became the middleweight heir apparent, the handpicked successor to Bernard Hopkins. [details]
Jermain Taylor and Jeff Lacy had crossed paths before, teammates sharing a room when their futures were bright and the skies were the limit, when the 2000 Olympics were the end of one era and the beginning of another.
Eight years after, Taylor and Lacy shared a ring when their futures were in question and the sky was falling, when only one could win, rising again toward stardom, while the other would wind up star-crossed, crashing and burning.
Taylor took the victory, winning nearly every round on all three judges’ scorecards. Those tallies, 119-109, 119-109 and 118-110, gave “Bad Intentions” a clear decision, a new direction and a second chance. What those numbers represented meant that “Left Hook” as he once was had left the building, left behind in the second tier.
There were once whole years Taylor had gone without losing a round, back in the years before he’d ever even lost a fight. Those were the years when the junior middleweight bronze medalist became the middleweight heir apparent, the handpicked successor to Bernard Hopkins. [details]