Jermain Taylor: "I Want To Make an Impact at 168"

[Dirk Diggler UK]

So you think Calzaghe lacked motivation when he was in his prime? Interesting.

Yes.....when you should be fighting Jones, Hopkins or Toney but you cant get them in the ring, i would think it'd be frustrating and cause a lack of motivation if you have to step in the ring with Tocker Pudwill instead.

Which in a way, makes it even more surprising that Joe wasnt caught on an off night

[abadger]

Real talk. I would have Pavlik a very heavy favourite over everyone Calzaghe fought (at the time at which he fought them) with the exception of Mikkel Kessler.

Do periods of inactivity mean fighters can't fight?

Chris Eubank was a world class boxer, you are right he was past his best, but you talk as though this means he would have no chance against Pavlik, this is simply not true. The fights Eubank lost prior to Joe were against Steve Collins, another world class boxer, and he pushed Joe hard. Therefore he would have a chance against Pavlik.

Byron Mitchell was a hard puncher, the only man ever to hurt Calzaghe, most other fighters would have been stopped by that shot, Pavlik included. I actually think Joe realised he didn't want to be in the ring with this guy long and that was what caused him to go after him like a buzzsaw.

Robin Reid was good enough to give Calzaghe his closest ever fight. That being so, is it objective to claim he would have no chance against Pavlik? I don't think so at all, I think he would have a good chance.

Richie Woodhall was a good fighter, technically very sound and would fight until the end. Of those I listed, Woodhall is the biggest reach, but that does not mean the result is a foregone conclusion, Kelly Pavlik is still relatively inexperienced and untested.

The common thread I detect in your posts is that you presume Kelly Pavlik is already of fully proven status in boxing, alongside Calzaghe. This is simply not so. As I have repeatedly stated, he owes almost all of his reputation to victories over Jermain Taylor. Were he to fight any of those guys at MW tomorrow, (disregarding their true weight) any one of them would be his toughest defence and his second toughest opponent ever, if we make the assumption that Jermain Taylor really is better than all of them. When you face your second toughest opponent ever, the chance of a loss is there, like it or not. Ask Jermain Taylor about it, for example.

[dstew]

I actually just found it hillarious that anyone would compare Jermain Taylor to Calzaghe in terms of where they are in their respective careers and what they've achieved.

I was comparing the circumstances of their next fights - do you want to rehash this all from the beginning?

It's weird that you should find my comparison hilarious but not see the humor in your own idolatry. Your sense of humor needs some serious fine tuning.

[Hitman932]

Im sorry, I apologise, he was ONLY 30lbs above his natural weight.

You said they were **** fights. Now you're backtracking.

What i meant is the fighters looked like **** compared to the prime versions of themselves. The quality of the fights themselves are irrelevant, Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward had some good fights...

Eubanks entrances were still prime, I will give him that.

[Hitman932]

Robin Reid was good enough to give Calzaghe his closest ever fight. That being so, is it objective to claim he would have no chance against Pavlik? I don't think so at all, I think he would have a good chance.

Richie Woodhall was a good fighter, technically very sound and would fight until the end. Of those I listed, Woodhall is the biggest reach, but that does not mean the result is a foregone conclusion, Kelly Pavlik is still relatively inexperienced and untested.

.

Woodhall is no better than Bronco McKart, an ex world champ who had never been stopped until Pavlik absolutely crushed him.

Nobody gives credit to him for that win cause McKart was "past his best"

McKart was at the same point in his career when he fought Pavlik as all the guys I listed were when they fought Calzaghe.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

What i meant is the fighters looked like **** compared to the prime versions of themselves. The quality of the fights themselves are irrelevant, Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward had some good fights...

Eubanks entrances were still prime, I will give him that.

Course you did. Surely thats even more impressive that Eubank was able to have a WAR with a CRUISERWEIGHT at that stage of his career.

He was past his best but I still believe he would humiliate Pavlik.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Woodhall is no better than Bronco McKart, an ex world champ who had never been stopped until Pavlik absolutely crushed him.

Nobody gives credit to him for that win cause McKart was "past his best"

McKart was at the same point in his career when he fought Pavlik as all the guys I listed were when they fought Calzaghe.

McKart was a world champ at 154.

Woodhall was competitive with Keith Holmes for the middleweight title, won the WBC super middleweight title and beat/faced some very decent competition

[Dan...]

Do periods of inactivity mean fighters can't fight?

Chris Eubank was a world class boxer, you are right he was past his best, but you talk as though this means he would have no chance against Pavlik, this is simply not true. The fights Eubank lost prior to Joe were against Steve Collins, another world class boxer, and he pushed Joe hard. Therefore he would have a chance against Pavlik.

Byron Mitchell was a hard puncher, the only man ever to hurt Calzaghe, most other fighters would have been stopped by that shot, Pavlik included. I actually think Joe realised he didn't want to be in the ring with this guy long and that was what caused him to go after him like a buzzsaw.

Robin Reid was good enough to give Calzaghe his closest ever fight. That being so, is it objective to claim he would have no chance against Pavlik? I don't think so at all, I think he would have a good chance.

Richie Woodhall was a good fighter, technically very sound and would fight until the end. Of those I listed, Woodhall is the biggest reach, but that does not mean the result is a foregone conclusion, Kelly Pavlik is still relatively inexperienced and untested.

The common thread I detect in your posts is that you presume Kelly Pavlik is already of fully proven status in boxing, alongside Calzaghe. This is simply not so. As I have repeatedly stated, he owes almost all of his reputation to victories over Jermain Taylor. Were he to fight any of those guys at MW tomorrow, (disregarding their true weight) any one of them would be his toughest defence and his second toughest opponent ever, if we make the assumption that Jermain Taylor really is better than all of them. When you face your second toughest opponent ever, the chance of a loss is there, like it or not. Ask Jermain Taylor about it, for example.

I'm not taking anything away from those guys as top class fighters or saying that they would not have had a chance against Pavlik, just that I would favour Pavlik strongly if he was to fight those guys at the time at which Calzaghe did. Obviously you cannot discount a guy like Eubank especially but I would have expected Pavlik to get the better of him at the time Joe fought him. Just my opinion though obviously.

[Hitman932]

Course you did. Surely thats even more impressive that Eubank was able to have a WAR with a CRUISERWEIGHT at that stage of his career.

He was past his best but I still believe he would humiliate Pavlik.

Im sure you believe that version of old ass Eubank would humiliate everyone fighting today at 160-175 with the exception of Calzaghe.

[abadger]

Woodhall is no better than Bronco McKart, an ex world champ who had never been stopped until Pavlik absolutely crushed him.

Nobody gives credit to him for that win cause McKart was "past his best"

McKart was at the same point in his career when he fought Pavlik as all the guys I listed were when they fought Calzaghe.

Have you seen the Woodhall fight? He was 32 and he put on a good performance against Calzaghe, standing up to him and catching him repeatedly with his right. He was past his best, certainly, but not by a very great deal.

I agree with you that these are not awesomly brilliant boxers, by the way, they aren't, I am only pointing out that presuming Pavlik romps through them all is overegging the pudding somewhat. Kelly Pavlik needs more fights and to prove that he really is the real deal and did not, for example, just get lucky by facing a guy he had the beating of. You must acknowledge that this is possible.