Comments Thread For: Jermain Taylor: I Should Have Never Been at 168-Pounds

[dstew]

Strange that JT cites laziness as the reason for abandoning 160, but yet he failed to make the weight limit. I know he's been inactive for a long period, but that's "Just Lazy". Haha

How do you know what the limit for this fight was?

Fights that are not for titles (or eliminators for titles) are often not at the division limit. Usually a pound or two over is not a huge deal.

Dan Rafael actually addressed this today in his chat:

Justin (Denver)
What's with the one pound allowance for Taylor and Dirrell?

Dan Rafael (1:59 PM)
There is nothing up with that. Normal. It's not a title bout. It is common practice to have a fight over the exact weight limit for that kind of bout. So for Taylor to be 161 was the max he was allowed and same for Dirrell at 169. Nothing unusual whatsoever.

[El_Forklift]

War jermain!!!

[rckdees]

i like jermain taylor, but all these fighters who come back after losing by vicious ko's always have an excuse and the truth is they're never the same again.

[delpilar]

I think Taylor wants Sergio Martinez at middleweight.

[-2 Scrappy-]

Totally agree he was a phenomenal physical presence at 160. Going up just gave him the excuse to gain more weight and lose some more discipline. But a disciplined Taylor in tip top shape at 160 is going to be a problem for anybody as long as the layoff hasn't completely messed up his skills which I doubt. Glad to see him back!

[#1Assassin]

i like jermain taylor, but all these fighters who come back after losing by vicious ko's always have an excuse and the truth is they're never the same again.

wow. ignorant much?

first of all plenty of fighters came back from KO defeats just as good and in some cases even better fighters, did you start watching boxing yesterday?

not all fighters make excuses when they lose, i will admit taylor is often making excuses but this is far from a bad one. taylor used to put on weight like ricky hatton, he was usually around 200lbs 8 weeks before a fight and spent the entire camp losing weight and not working on his skills or gameplan at all.

thats not the way to prepare for a fight properly and will obviously affect your performance come fight night tremendously. if it wasnt for that he probably wouldnt have gassed as badly, and in that case a whole lot of his fights might have turned out differently.

[dstew]

Taylor was interviewed on a local radio show this week and said he entered camp for this fight at 170. He's been working with a strength and conditioning coach during his break from boxing and claims to have stopped partying and eating everything in sight, and to have become basically a stay at home dad & husband these last two years.

Pat Burns was interviewed also and said that Taylor is more physically mature than he's ever seen him. He thinks Taylor was a late bloomer who didn't fill out into his adult frame until around age 26, and is now a young 33, and stronger than he was earlier in his career. Burns also said he's lightening fast, even faster than he remembers, and he passed all his coordination and agility drills with flying colors. He was in such good shape they had him sparring after 1 week in camp.

I know we hear a lot of this "it was an amazing camp" fluff in the workup to every fight, but it's hard not to take Burns at his word.

[Foolkiller]

How do you know what the limit for this fight was?

Fights that are not for titles (or eliminators for titles) are often not at the division limit. Usually a pound or two over is not a huge deal.

Dan Rafael actually addressed this today in his chat:

It's funny that your defending the weight deviations based on Rafael's chat sessions. "What a tool." that statement applies thrice. Maybe Dan should have let JT's and AD's opponents in on this common practice. I bet they lost the last 1.5lbs just for fun.

[dstew]

It's funny that your defending the weight deviations based on Rafael's chat sessions. "What a tool." that statement applies thrice. Maybe Dan should have let JT's and AD's opponents in on this common practice. I bet they lost the last 1.5lbs just for fun.

It's funny that you're trying to assert yourself on a subject in which you clearly have limited knowledge.

Look at all the archived weigh-in articles on this site for non-title fights, especially tune ups that don't factor into any sanctioning body's purview. You will see that MANY of them are contested at a pound or two above the division limit. Even watching smaller cards featuring up and coming prospects (ESPN, Shobox) would show you how common this is.

Just because you are just now taking notice of this practice doesn't mean that Taylor/Dirrell are guilty of anything.

And finally, Nicklow probably came in under the limit because he's a natural junior middleweight who has fought as low as 151 lbs, and he trained his ass off for this fight because he's trying to take advantage of the opportunity. Coming in a lb under the limit isn't a huge deal in the higher divisions, especially for a guy fighting up in weight.

[dstew]

It's funny that your defending the weight deviations based on Rafael's chat sessions. "What a tool." that statement applies thrice. Maybe Dan should have let JT's and AD's opponents in on this common practice. I bet they lost the last 1.5lbs just for fun.

It's funny that you're trying to assert yourself on a subject in which you clearly have limited knowledge.

Look at all the archived weigh-in articles on this site for non-title fights, especially tune ups that don't factor into any sanctioning body's purview. You will see that MANY of them are contested at a pound or two above the division limit. Even watching smaller cards featuring up and coming prospects (ESPN, Shobox) would show you how common this is.

Just because you are just now taking notice of this practice doesn't mean that Taylor/Dirrell are guilty of anything.

And finally, Nicklow probably came in under the limit because he's a natural junior middleweight who has fought as low as 151 lbs, and he trained his ass off for this fight because he's trying to take advantage of the opportunity. Coming in a lb under the limit isn't a huge deal in the higher divisions, especially for a guy fighting up in weight.