What happened to Jermain Taylor?

[The_Demon]

he got skills but he fights scared after 6 rounds and doesnt have the mental edge anymore
skill-wise he is exceptional just like judah but its heart/dedication/staminia they seem too lack

[ozziememz]

he lost the love for the sport

[daggum]

what do you mean what happened? his best real wins are over william joppy, raul marquez and jeff lacy. just not that good no matter what hbo tells you.

[Riptor]

what do you mean what happened? his best real wins are over william joppy, raul marquez and jeff lacy. just not that good no matter what hbo tells you.

Exactly the point that many of us have tried to get across. He was not really that good to begin with. He was a champion that was force fed to the fans.

[mathed]

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.

Pavlik broke him, he could not believe that he almost had Pavlik down and Pav still won.

After that, Jermain was timid when the stuff hit the fan.

[vercingetorix3]

he got skills but he fights scared after 6 rounds and doesnt have the mental edge anymore
skill-wise he is exceptional just like judah but its heart/dedication/staminia they seem too lack

I was thinking of Judah immediately after I posted this thread. Lots of talent, but starts to gas out in the middle rounds...

I definitely believe Hopkins took a lot away from him (made him cautious, more of a keep-him-off-me style rather than gunning for the knockout, as someone mentioned). That Spinks defense should have been easy work instead of the SD.

Pavlik broke him, he could not believe that he almost had Pavlik down and Pav still won.

After that, Jermain was timid when the stuff hit the fan.

Pavlik finished off whatever was left, in my opinion.

[dstew]

He achieved all his goals (winning an olympic medal, becoming a champion) and forgot to set new ones after he got on top.

Taylor's biggest problem lies between his ears. I don't mean that he's dumb, but that somewhere along the way, probably between the criticism for the Hopkins/Wright/Ouma/Spinks fights, and the over-eager way in which he went after Pavlik the first time, only to fail, self doubt started eating away at him. You can see it when he fights. He's a ball of nervous energy, and never looks relaxed in the ring.

On top of it all, he hasn't had a legitimate tune-up in more than 4 years; nothing to build his confidence.

Not to mention that he cut his professional teeth on smaller fighters, and arguably never learned how to handle himself when in the ring with a bigger, stronger man until faced with true threats like Pavlik and Froch.

His career, while nothing to be ashamed of, is one of the bigger disappointments in boxing recently considering how much potential and natural ability he has (had?).

Hopefully he can change fans' minds against Abraham, but I stopped holding my breath after his late unraveling in the Froch fight.

[Bushidō]

He might be the most talented in the tournament but he needs to just relax in the ring

[BadNewz]

B-Hop might have taken it away from Taylor, but B-Hop DEFINITELY took it away from Pavlik. Not that Pavlik was ever that good to begin with, but he'll never be the same again. Just a gatekeeper waiting to happen.

[TheCheetah]

He has only lost 3 fights... It's not the end of the road for Jermain Taylor... Although there is certain things he needs to work on. He has a problem with backing up too much.