07.12.06 – By Justin Hackman: In anticipation for each of Jermain Taylor’s last three fights, I remember thinking, though it would not be a walk in the park, he would be victorious in each. For the first fight with Hopkins, I underestimated exactly how much gas he had left in his tank. I knew there were an exorbitant amount of miles on the Hopkins-mobile, but they must have been highway miles, because he still currently is performing like a well-oiled machine. For their rematch, I figured if Taylor made it that close in their first encounter, he could only improve, while with Hopkins…well it’s hard to teach an old boxer new punches.
Then for Taylor’s match-up with Winky Wright, I foresaw Taylor banging away at Wright’s guard, getting through enough to wear him down and eventually win a decision. While it did not turn out to be that easy, Wright defended against Taylor’s imposing athleticism better than expected, making this bout a draw in the end. The same can be said with Taylor’s fights with Hopkins: though Taylor got the decisions, the fights were highly competitive, and he did not beat Hopkins with the conviction as some, including yours truly, may have predicted..
So the outcome has become that we have all been disappointed with his last three performances. We say, “I really think the heir apparent, and a dominant champion should be able to fight the best and beat the best—not just do enough to get the benefit of the doubt in close decisions.” While there is certainly legitimacy to that claim, I see another point of view.
Before Taylor was “Bad Decisions,” he was “Bad Intentions.” It is not complicated the way he acquired this nickname. Jermain Taylor was absolutely dominant in his bouts with…well everybody before Hopkins. Pat Burns once told me in an interview that Jermain Taylor had not lost a round before he fought for the title. While that does not thoroughly prepare a boxer for champion status, as he must overcome adversity in order to be great. No fighter in history has ever successfully avoided adversity in the ring. But nevertheless, Jermain Taylor was making his way through the professional ranks. He handed Raul Marquez his first knockout loss coming after nine rounds of a brutal beating. He destroyed what was supposed to be a battle tested guy in Daniel Edouard in only three rounds. Taylor punished William Joppy through six rounds until Joppy decided he was beaten and proceeded to run for the remainder of the fight. He set the middleweight record for the number of jabs thrown in a fight against Freddie Cuevas, as well as pounded the rugged Alex Bunema into a pulp in the seventh.
As the super-fight between Hopkins and Taylor was being made, some said Jermain Taylor should have faced a couple opponents such as the Howard Eastmans, Antwun Echols, and Felix Sturms of the world: solid boxers that could represent Taylor’s high school education before attending Harvord under Professor Hopkins. However, because Hopkins was on his way out the door, along with the fact that Taylor had built up an impressive resume, making him the only threat left at 160 for Hopkins, Taylor’s camp decided to skip high school, and go right to college from junior high. This decision, while exciting for boxing fans, was one to inevitably lead solely to criticism. Jermain Taylor, as good as he was, was not going to look as good or impress the public as much as he was currently simply because of the high level of his opponent in Bernard Hopkins: no one looks good against Hopkins. The man is a master at what he does, and I doubt there is a fighter in the game today pound for pound that could dominate Bernard Hopkins even at the age of 41. So because Taylor had not established his credentials in “high school,” he was now fair game as far as the public’s judging goes, considering that Jermain Taylor was now (to quote Bull Durham) at the show.
After Hopkins, Taylor jumps right in against Wright, eager to show the world what he learned while away at college. The problem was that Wright is the wrong opponent to show off any skill, whether recently acquired or otherwise. Therefore, Taylor could not show us how smart the Hopkins’ lectures made him. While Taylor could not display an obviously new-and-improved champion, I will say that Winky Wright would have beaten Jermain Taylor rather handily had he been fighting the “pre-Hopkins Jermain Taylor.” But instead, the Taylor that had gone through 24 rounds with Hopkins, forced a draw, not to mention the fact that he was more competitive with Wright than both Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad combined.
So while Jermain Taylor may not be the champion right now that we all saw him being, he does not have to be. Taylor has just graduated college under the tutelage of two surefire hall-of-famers, and pound-for-pound boxers. While giving Taylor some poor grades and disciplining him when appropriate, Hopkins and Wright passed the young student, and Saturday night he begins his professional career. So why do I pick Taylor again with such confidence when I have been warned by his last three fights?—with the level of education Jermain Taylor has received, I see him tackling the professional world with force. Taylor is 28, but a young 28. I see Jermain Taylor beginning his climb to the top now, and reaching his peak around the age of 32 or 33. It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility, as Hopkins, when he was 28 was coming off a loss to Roy Jones, and was working his way up the middleweight chain. Winky Wright at 28 was fighting in Europe and had failed to make a name for himself in the U.S. at that point. Jermain Taylor was taught by the old school, and will eventually resemble the careers of his professors’. It would only be appropriate that Jermain Taylor has a long and illustrious career as a way of honoring the ones that made him a pro, by eventually at an older age taking on the newest and hottest challenger out there, and make him his student. But that is all in fun, and simply a boxing fan’s vision. For now, I am excited to see Jermain Taylor begin his young professional career on Saturday night.