Tweet
By Lyle Fitzsimmons - It’d be hard to blame Jermain Taylor for pondering five-year revisionism.
After all, it’s been less than half a decade since the Arkansas stud was atop the 160-pound heap – having emerged from a 22-month stretch with the pelts of Bernard Hopkins (twice), Cory Spinks and Kassim Ouma, and having survived a competitive draw with defensive conundrum Winky Wright.
Back in spring 2007, he was in early prep for a September showdown with tough guy Kelly Pavlik, who’d shown mettle in a blood-and-guts duel with Edison Miranda but lacked the dynamism to handle the varied package presented by a thoroughbred with Olympic-level amateur chops.
In fact, assuming the Pavlik fight indeed went as planned, some in Taylor’s camp already had eyes fixed on the horizon, where potentially bank-busting showdowns with names like Calzaghe, Kessler, Jones and Trinidad – then pairing off in soon-to-come bouts – still awaited.
To them, Pavlik was a made-to-order vehicle for Taylor to enhance his rep.
“(Jermain is) aware of the talk and I think he's frustrated by it, and I think this is a fight where he can do something about it,” said Mark Vaz, a long-time friend and former manager, who rejoined the fighter during a Spartan-like Pocono Mountains camp.
“He's fought a bunch of guys recently where it’s been hard to look good, and I think even he'd admit that maybe he didn't do as much with those chances as he could have or should have. But he's been looking forward to this one for a while now.”
Armed with the acumen of Emanuel Steward and having worked with a sparring corps that included ex-welterweight champ Kermit Cintron, Team Taylor headed to Atlantic City carrying full confidence that a perception-vaulting win was imminent. [Click Here To Read More]
After all, it’s been less than half a decade since the Arkansas stud was atop the 160-pound heap – having emerged from a 22-month stretch with the pelts of Bernard Hopkins (twice), Cory Spinks and Kassim Ouma, and having survived a competitive draw with defensive conundrum Winky Wright.
Back in spring 2007, he was in early prep for a September showdown with tough guy Kelly Pavlik, who’d shown mettle in a blood-and-guts duel with Edison Miranda but lacked the dynamism to handle the varied package presented by a thoroughbred with Olympic-level amateur chops.
In fact, assuming the Pavlik fight indeed went as planned, some in Taylor’s camp already had eyes fixed on the horizon, where potentially bank-busting showdowns with names like Calzaghe, Kessler, Jones and Trinidad – then pairing off in soon-to-come bouts – still awaited.
To them, Pavlik was a made-to-order vehicle for Taylor to enhance his rep.
“(Jermain is) aware of the talk and I think he's frustrated by it, and I think this is a fight where he can do something about it,” said Mark Vaz, a long-time friend and former manager, who rejoined the fighter during a Spartan-like Pocono Mountains camp.
“He's fought a bunch of guys recently where it’s been hard to look good, and I think even he'd admit that maybe he didn't do as much with those chances as he could have or should have. But he's been looking forward to this one for a while now.”
Armed with the acumen of Emanuel Steward and having worked with a sparring corps that included ex-welterweight champ Kermit Cintron, Team Taylor headed to Atlantic City carrying full confidence that a perception-vaulting win was imminent. [Click Here To Read More]
Comment