Jermain Taylor-Allan Green are Poised To Clash on March 28

[javelin_fangs]

How about a belt and thereby giving Taylor the possibility of calling himself a two-division champion?

Taylor could fight any of the titlists at 168 at any point he'd like to provided he keeps winning. I don't think he's too worried about passing up opportunities to fight for a belt. I think he's still just trying to get his feet under him after suffering two losses. There's nothing wrong with that.

Lacy and Green aren't bad opponents to tune up against, especially when you consider that Taylor didn't really fight a whole lot of top 10 contenders before he became 160 lb champ. So, it's perfectly acceptable for him to fight top 10 contenders while he works his way up to being ready to contender for the 168 lb title. I think you're just being a little too impatient.

[javelin_fangs]

does anyone really take that nonsense seriously? belts are for ******s. super middle is a terrible division and i suspect taylor is just gonna hide out here collecting free paychecks for a long time. like calzaghe did.

WTF!?! 168 is a very good division. Possibly the deepest and most competitive division in boxing.

[javelin_fangs]

It's a damn shame if this is true, and if so he's simply ducking and there's nothing else to be said. I don't believe DiBella when he says its all about the money [for Jermain]. I think Jermain wants to regain his starpower, even if that doesn't entail climbing the ranks to the top of the division. He's obviously lost a lot with the Pavlik fights and wants some stature back.

But if he REALLY wants to get his fame back it is hypocritical that he would take a Showtime (smaller public stage) fight against a lesser opponent than go to the American television boxing mecca against a highly regarded champ or another well respected opponent.

Is there anything wrong with fighting two top 10 guys before fighting for a title if you feel like that'll get you back up to peak condition rather than just jumping into a title fight?

[javelin_fangs]

No. Taylor does not want a titleshot. According to Dibella Taylor only wants easy money. Hence Green.

I wouldn't go so far as to say he only wants easy money. I think you're exaggerated the facts a little bit. Taylor doesn't really feel like fighting Froch. I think he'd rather fight a couple of tune up fight and if he can get good money then he'll definitely take that. But the Kessler fight is the only one that really matters because at this point Taylor needs to be recognized as THE champ for a belt to mean anything to him and I don't think he feels 100% comfortable going after the real title. That said, if a Froch fight would've gotten him more money than a Green fight then I think Taylor would have taken it, but that's not the case so Taylor is going for the easier money.

[javelin_fangs]

What?It's a confidence builder all day.Taylor took it cuz Green is a stablemate and wants easy fights till a big money fight comes up.And Green has neverbeat anybody at 168 either.He's only ranked cuz he is american.

Kind of like Robert Stieglitz and Vitali Tsypko, right...oh wait...

[STEELHEAD]

i hope this goes thru.who knows why green got a break.
right up taylors alley. someone that will stand in front of him!
this will be a showcase for jermain.
ditsy green don't have a chance imo.

[javelin_fangs]

On the basis that he's American and Americans are better by definition? He's rated below Froch by The Ring, and was rated lower even before Froch won the WBC belt. And The Ring's ratings aren't infallible, but they aren't set by their own staff, they're set by a panel of highly respected independent boxing experts, so they carry some weight.

There are plenty of European and Latin American fighters who are overrated by the sanctioning bodies. Take a look at the rankings http://www.*********.com/?page_id=55 and tell me the rhyme or reason from one organization to the next. Allan Green is about as worthy of a ranking, if not more so, that about half the guys who have one.

[javelin_fangs]

No,actually Showtime put Zuniga in there.I agree he doesn't deserve a chance but he is a ****er and makes for a interesting fight.It's more like a toon-up for Andrade which will happen after this one.Showtime wants it and the IBF gave Andrade his title eliminator.Regardless of Bute wanting or not he will have to figth Andrade

Zuniga is actually not a bad fighter. I was hoping either Ward or Dirrell would fight him, but I'm glad he got a shot at Bute. Bute will beat him, but he's a decent opponent.

[Mr. Ryan]

Taylor been in ther with BHop, Pavlik, Wright, and Lacy....I think he'll be able to handle anything that Green throws at him.

Taylor barely beat and hardly landed anything on BHop, was KO'ed by Pavlik and a lot of people think he lost to Wright. In those three fights he didn't land much of note. With Lacy, Lacy hasn't looked good in a very long time.

I don't think mentioning those fights advanced Taylor's cause much in this debate.

[javelin_fangs]

I've just discovered that Ward fights Henry Buchanan on Shobox on February 6 and is then being lined up for a fight with Glen Johnson at 170lbs. So Froch-Ward is a non-starter at present. Best Froch can hope for in the short term seems to be André Dirrell or Marcus Johnson - if either of them will fight him.

Ward isn't necessarily going to fight Johnson. If he could get a title fight with Froch that paid about as much as a Johnson fight he might just go in that direction. I think he was talking about fighting Johnson because that's a fight Showtime is interested in and he wants to raise his profile.