By Kurt Ward

I witnessed two incredible things in boxing this week.  The first was former undisputed Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, 33-4-1 (20), becoming a title-holder again after defeating Australian Sam Soliman, 44-12 (18).

To most fans it's shocking and, quite frankly, sad that Taylor is still pursuing his boxing career after suffering three terrible knockout losses over a two year period.  The last of those losses, at the hands of Arthur Abraham in the Showtime super middleweight tournament in 2009, resulted in him spending several days in the hospital suffering a severe concussion and short-term memory loss.

After that loss he took a break from the sport for two years and returned at 160lbs determined to prove everyone wrong.

Taylor's heart and desire cannot be questioned, but this win has made it more apparent that he should go out now, on a high.  Up until the middle rounds, when the 40-year-old Soliman suffered a bad knee injury, Taylor offered very little and looked every bit the shot fighter many believed he was.  ESPN broadcasted the fight in what was a poor advertisement for this great sport.  You had one man who really shouldn't be boxing any more against a man without the use of one leg.

The second thing that amazed me this week was seeing world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, 62-3 (53), paddling in the sea while being pursued by Shannon Briggs in a boat.  Briggs, 56-6-1 (49), is going to great lengths in trying to secure a fight, and a big payday, against the champion despite not having a win of note in years.  Klitschko, unsurprisingly, seemed pretty annoyed at Briggs and his continued efforts in following him wherever he goes.

Briggs has gatecrashed a press conference in Germany and followed that up with appearances at a restaurant and a gym, both in Miami, before taking it to the waves.  Shannon has taken stalking to new heights that would make Max Cady—the movie villain played brilliantly by Robert De Niro in Cape Fear—blush.

Don't watch that movie, Wladimir.

Anthony Joshua, 9-0 (9), completed his first year as a pro with a two-round demolition of Dennis Bakhtov, 38-10 (25), on Saturday.  Joshua is improving with every fight but has so far only fought sixteen rounds as a professional.  The amount of hyperbole around the Olympic Gold medalist is understandable but, at the same time, putting a lot of pressure on a man who only took up boxing seven years ago. Comparisons to Ali, Holmes and Lewis are great for column inches, but each dominant victory brings an even bigger level of expectation.  To his credit, Joshua seems very grounded and understands the learning he still must do if he is to one day reach the top.

An interested observer at ringside was former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion David Price, 18-2 (15), who is a great example of the huge pressure that can be placed on a big British heavyweight knocking out all opponents he shares the ring with.

American veteran Tony Thompson, 39-5 (26), shattered the high hopes many had for Price (twice) and now he finds himself trying to work his way back into the mix.  In the heavyweight division one punch really can drastically change the course of a man's career, and Price found that out brutally after the step up from Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton to Thompson proved far too much.

There's no need to rush Joshua.  He is an exciting heavyweight prospect who needs to be matched carefully as he develops over the coming months and years.  Less talk of Ali and Lewis would be nice, too.

We heard some odd comments from Floyd Mayweather Jr. this week  (there's a first). The best fighter on the planet had Manny Pacquiao on his mind when speaking to FightHype.com: “You know what's so crazy?  I just look at the situation like this, ever since Ariza left Pacquiao, he hasn't had a knockout.  What a coincidence.”

Which seems strange when you consider Alex Ariza spent time in Floyd's training camp as he prepared for his rematch with Marcos Maidana.  Manny Pacquiao's former conditioner also revealed to BoxingScene that he had signed a two-year contract with Mayweather to serve as his strength and conditioning coach.

We also found out that Marco Antonio Periban, 20-2-1 (13), will be James DeGale’s next opponent.  The 19-1 (13) southpaw meets the Mexican over twelves-threes on November 22.  It became the fifth fight completed for a PPV bill that will be headlined by the rematch between Tony Bellew and Nathan Cleverly.

Many fans took to social media to vent their frustration at having to pay extra, on top of their Sky bill, in order to see this event.  It is a fact that there has been better fights/cards on Sky box office over the years but, on the flip side of that, there has also been plenty that have been much worse.

One thing is for certain, this undercard sure beats Johnny Nelson and Barry McGuigan discussing tactics for David Haye and Audley Harrison on a touch screen for two hours in the build-up to their farce of a heavyweight contest.

Nobody is being forced to purchase anything.  If you don't believe it represents value for money, then simply don't buy.  If you believe the card is worth your money then it's an easy decision.

Catch Kurt and his fellow panelists every Sunday for the live boxing podcast at 8.30pm BST/3.30pm EST