What happened to Jermain Taylor?

[vercingetorix3]

Arguably,this SMW tournament is his last chance to shine, otherwise he'll join the likes of Jeff Lacy in terms of relevance in my opinion..

It seemed like he had nowhere to go but up after beating Hopkins twice. But it all went downhill from there. Is it the change of trainers (From Pat Burns to Steward to his amateur coach)? Is it stamina issues, which have always plagued him? Has he lost the hunger? Another HBO hypejob? All of the above? Something else?

I personally believe it's partially stamina and changing trainers. It seemed like he was listening to Burns and did not have that same "chemistry" with Steward.

[P.WILL]

i have a feeling he will dominate AA

[eubank1]

i like taylor i think he is a brilliant boxer maybe 1 of the best out there still, but i think he must have something wrong with his training because he just cant seem to see a fight thru after hes dominated the 1st half of a fight!

[#1Assassin]

stamina problems, lost his hunger (although he got it back after the first pavlik fight). more than anything its his inability to adapt. he did well against hopkins (although i though he lost) bcuz BHop fit him perfectly. but hes flawed against other style fighters.

i think sweetness was right on the money. taylor fights to keep his oponents of him, not to attack. its like hes just trying to buy time.

if u watch him pre hopkins he was a killer. not cuz he fought lesser guys, u could see it in his eyes, they way he went after his oponents. he lost his bad intentions once he became champion.

btw comparing him to jeff lacy is less than fair. lacy got a easy road to a title and lost badly to every good fighter he ever fought. taylor fought lots of great fighters and even when coming up short gave them one hell of a fight. he earned his title shot too. not to mention he gave lacy the ass whupping of a lifetime.

[MANGLER]

Bhop took his shine away. He never seemed to be the same after those fights. I think it hurt his confidence that he couldn't decisively put the older man out to pasture to take over. He still had some good performances after, and his res is ill, but even without takin bad punishment from Bhop, he lost sumthin in those fights. And of course, the obvious issues wit stamina and defense don't help. Now add chin to that. AA should finish him.

[Riptor]

stamina problems, lost his hunger (although he got it back after the first pavlik fight). more than anything its his inability to adapt. he did well against hopkins (although i though he lost) bcuz BHop fit him perfectly. but hes flawed against other style fighters.

i think sweetness was right on the money. taylor fights to keep his oponents of him, not to attack. its like hes just trying to buy time.

if u watch him pre hopkins he was a killer. not cuz he fought lesser guys, u could see it in his eyes, they way he went after his oponents. he lost his bad intentions once he became champion.

btw comparing him to jeff lacy is less than fair. lacy got a easy road to a title and lost badly to every good fighter he ever fought. taylor fought lots of great fighters and even when coming up short gave them one hell of a fight. he earned his title shot too. not to mention he gave lacy the ass whupping of a lifetime.

I have to disagree with you on this many feel that Taylor had an easy road to the title and he had some easy defenses as well. Remember he fought Hopkins (in a fight that many felt he lost, both times, so I agree with you there). he fought Corey Spinks and arguably lost that one, he fought William Joppy and after the fight the two looked like they had just had a warm up. A list of other non-descript opponents on the way up and after getting the belt. (He should have easily shined against a small welterweight looking Spinks and Kassim Ouma.

I think Honestly that Taylor just never was as great as they make him out to be. He was average but not exceptional and when he fought other goood, great and exceptional fighters it showed. Hence why Abraham will probably come out the victor in their fight. To add to that as others said he is not adaptable in the ring. He is either in box mode or survivor mode but nothing in between or besides that.

[KingTito]

It's a lot to do with his stamina problems and training. He is one of the most skilled out there. He just can't seem to finish a damn fight. This is his last shot I'm afraid.

[YNWA]

one of the few fighters who can deal with b-hop

but looks lost against an aggressive fighter who will carry on punching til the end ie froch

but personally think b-hop beats froch in the most boring fight ever

[mercadojglb]

Bhop took his shine away. He never seemed to be the same after those fights. I think it hurt his confidence that he couldn't decisively put the older man out to pasture to take over. He still had some good performances after, and his res is ill, but even without takin bad punishment from Bhop, he lost sumthin in those fights. And of course, the obvious issues wit stamina and defense don't help. Now add chin to that. AA should finish him.

Pavlik took his shine away not Bhop

[Boxingwizard]

Taylor just don't have that kill instincts, if he did he would of knocked out Cory Spinks, and Kassim Ouma. The switch from Pat Berns to Emmuanel Steward also affected him.