In Retrospect - Taylor's 160lb "Reign"

[Mikhnienko]

Not trying to dog Taylor here but looking back at his 160 lb reign, it wasn't much.

Hopkins wins were pretty controversial and were more a case of Hopkins losing those fights himself rather than Taylor taking the belt from him.

The defences against
Spinks, who Judah ko'd
Ouma, Who Karmazin dropped twice and thoroughly dominated
Wright - bs decision
then Pavlik..........

Also the fact that Arthur had a belt and just handled him.

- His "twitch" where he taps his glove against his forehead every 15 seconds
- His low left that he swings in front of himself like a cartoon character
- Bending forward at the waist
-pulling straight back with almost no ability to use lateral movement
- all around laziness & lack of discipline

These are huge fundemental flaws that he still does, i respect his fighting b-hop and from pavlik on (it drove me nuts with the three 154lber title defences) but how good was he? I see it more as a case of a HBO hype & being labelled as a "very good fighter" which he never was.

He definitely has some natural athleticism but his fundamental boxing skills are absent, doesn't learn, doesn't train & is weak mentally

Am i the only one who views him this way?

[Mikhnienko]

I want others input........

[Al Haymon]

Is that Bilbao?

Gehry fan?

[Shadows]

Not trying to dog Taylor here but looking back at his 160 lb reign, it wasn't much.

Hopkins wins were pretty controversial and were more a case of Hopkins losing those fights himself rather than Taylor taking the belt from him.

The defences against
Spinks, who Judah ko'd
Ouma, Who Karmazin dropped twice and thoroughly dominated
Wright - bs decision
then Pavlik..........

Also the fact that Arthur had a belt and just handled him.

- His "twitch" where he taps his glove against his forehead every 15 seconds
- His low left that he swings in front of himself like a cartoon character
- Bending forward at the waist
-pulling straight back with almost no ability to use lateral movement
- all around laziness & lack of discipline

These are huge fundemental flaws that he still does, i respect his fighting b-hop and from pavlik on (it drove me nuts with the three 154lber title defences) but how good was he? I see it more as a case of a HBO hype & being labelled as a "very good fighter" which he never was.

He definitely has some natural athleticism but his fundamental boxing skills are absent, doesn't learn, doesn't train & is weak mentally

Am i the only one who views him this way?

I think others are having this convo right now in ree****yalus' thread about Taylor.

Jermain, along with Kessler, are my two favorite fighters but I've always been honest about his flaws.

You outlined his major flaws, but to go along with his twitch, he's always had lots of wasted body motion.

Also, for a long time, he went to the ropes far too much and was poor defensively and that was magnified when he started to fade.

Technically, he still ****s his right hand back. He also loads up on a lot of his punches.

Mentally he doesn't know how to adjust to the situation at hand, and gets really uncomfortable with pressure.

Despite being a good athelte, he mainly fought flat footed and didn't use lateral movement like you'd think.

He's been in many close fights and in those fights he's gotten the benefit. You wanna make a case for the other guys? Go ahead. He was a good fighter, who could've improved, but didn't. I really don't want to go further with this as I feel like I'm dogging him.

[MANGLER]

I ain't like the Bhop and Winky decisions. Everything else is aight. The Spinks fight was **** tho. He was criticized for not lookin as spectacular as some wanted given his status as HBO's big new star, but that's cuz of the caliber of comp he was facin. Taylor was a quality champ, tho not a dominant one.

[Madvillain]

Everyone knows Taylor was a huge letdown as Middleweight Champion, never living up to the expectations of him. For a while, he was thought to be the heir to Hopkins and would lead the Middleweight Division into the future. It's especially sad considering at times you could see flashes of absolute brilliance and star potential, but for whatever reason he just could never tap into that skill.

Simple fact though is Kelly Pavlik broke him, while Abraham and to an extent Froch just stepped on what was left.

[S A M U R A I]

Taylor is the ****. I don't care if he struggled, I don't care that he lost, I don't care about any disputed decisions. He is everything a boxer should be. End of.



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[-Hyperion-]

ignorant bs...........

and that "title" arthur had was paper..........taylor vacated it to give the former p4p#1(before taylor beat him) hopkins his rematch

[Mikhnienko]

You outlined his major flaws, but to go along with his twitch, he's always had lots of wasted body motion.

Also, for a long time, he went to the ropes far too much and was poor defensively and that was magnified when he started to fade.

Technically, he still ****s his right hand back. He also loads up on a lot of his punches.

Great points, especially on the telegraphing his shots and laying on the ropes

[Mikhnienko]

ignorant bs...........

and that "title" arthur had was paper..........taylor vacated it to give the former p4p#1(before taylor beat him) hopkins his rematch

i understand the title he had was on paper, my point is that Arthur always would have beat him and as soon as Taylor faced guys his own size, he got beat big.

Using your logic i assume you wouldn't argue that Roy Jones reign at LHW doesn't mean anything since Michalczewski was Lineal?