**What will make Jermain Taylor "THE" Premier MW Champ** Cuz he's not

[ICB]

yea i know what ur saying like evander holyfield wasnt excellent at one thing but he was good allrounder

[Preme]

I tend to agree with most of what Wacko said, but not all. Weather or not you (or alot of others) thought he won those fights isn't another story, its the reason topics like this are still made.

i like that fact he is now taking an easy fight, Taylor looks to be a powerfull hitter a Ko's are expected - but in his defense not many would of through he would KO hopkins or winky, i sure as hell didn't expect him to, and Koing people isn't just what boxing is about. When was the last time winky scored a KO against a world class fighter? the last person hopkins knocked out was Oscar!

i think Taylor has alot of heart, and alot of talent; after this next hand picked fight i would really love to see him beat the winner of Abraham/Miranda and move up. Yes he just had 3 highly controversial fights but as of now there is nothing more he can do about them, tis why i think he should take on the winner of Abraham/Miranda (imo will be Abraham) i think next to JT Abraham is the next best at MW and beating him will leave Jt unsubtly the best at MW with nothing more he can prove and a step up to SMW will give him adleast as of now 3 top fights in calzaghe, lacy and kessler providing kessler comes through his next unification fight.

although i highly doubt he will beat calzaghe, i believe calzaghe is to good for him, but i am welsh, and calzaghe is my all time fav fighter so home town pride may well be clouding my judgment - i think he is good enough to beat kessler and lacy dominated the SMW (as i think calzaghe will move up after his 20 title defences) and there JT being rememberd by the vast majority of true boxing fans as courageous fighter, who had one drive and that was to fight and beast the best always.

Its very seldom you see fighters outside of Mexico go after and fight the best leaving no question mark about a fight that could of/should of happend - Taylor is young enough, good enough and i believe has the heart from here on out to be one of them fighters and i hope he does it, if not for our sake of seeing the best of him and seeing world class fights from him every time, but for his sake. 'Coz like it or not, agree with it or not if he stays to 'dominate' MW he will be rememberd by alot of boxing fans as the fighter who was gifted 3 fights against the 3 best fighters he fought - and that would sadly be a great unjust to him.

[ICB]

yea i agree preme i think calzaghe got too much workrate for taylor calzaghe would outwork taylor all night prolly win ud

[Preme]

Wright is a better boxer all around. He might not excite people...but he does win his fights when he wins his fights.

Know what I mean?

nop, coz if that was the case he would be the MW champ now?

[Wacko3205]

Wright is a better boxer all around. He might not excite people...but he does win his fights when he wins his fights.

Know what I mean?

nop, coz if that was the case he would be the MW champ now?

I think that wev'e all seen more than a handful of decisions that we/the fighters/or media have thought was the wrong shake.

Taylor Wright was one that many did not agree with.

So the decision is not always the fighters to make...it's often left up to judges & networks...so no...you can't just say that Wright would be MW champ now & be done with it.

[Fenster]

To say Taylor needs to win his fights in a more dominating fashion after he's just fought two of the best fighters in the world and come out with two wins and a draw is laughable

Even if you think he lost the fights they were all bloody close, proving that he's the best, joint/best middle in the world.

[El Kabong]

Wright is not the better all-around fighter, Winky has defense, he uses the ring well, and has a good 1-2 that's where everything slows down for him. Winky can't press the pace of a fight, he can't KO anyone at anytime, he doesn't move all that well but he is a good judge of his own range which is what makes it difficult to really hit him good...basically if someone got on their bike he'd have a tough time catching them...Floyd, Oscar, Ray Leonard, Ray Robinson, Roy Jones Jr., Chris Eubank, etc would have frustrated Winky with their speed.

JT is a true athlete, he's one of those guys who could be put in any sport and succeed. He's big he's quick, he's powerful and he's a young guy too so he's still got learning to do....there will come a point in his career where it'll remind us of Roy Jones Jr. or Marvin Hagler or Ray Leonard where he'll totally dominate other fighters who are as good as they come and he'll make it look easy. But alas those days are 3-4 years down the road.

I think JT has proven himself more than any other middleweight and he's the #1 guy at 160.

Abraham - hasn't been hit hard yet and he hasn't fought anyone who's all that great

Miranda - has been stunned already and his boxing skills haven't been tested yet.

Kelly Pavlik - probably has the best chance of becoming a star his size at 160 gives him an advantage over pretty much everyone but he hasn't been truly challenged yet

Sergio Mora - The Contender winner hasn't impressed me, he's the best thing ESPN can muster

Yuri Foreman - a light hitting middleweight he has the workrate and speed to be tough for anyone but his competition has been limited to journeymen so far.

Sturm - recently KO'd by the ancient Javier Castillejo has lots of work to do, he fought ODH tooth and nail but never fully capitalized on that showing.

Fernando Vargas - a cagey veteran who will no doubt be moving up to 160 since losing to Shane Mosley will be a tough fight for anyone on this list, he might not have the pop he used to but his heart will test anyone

[Preme]

he'll totally dominate other fighters who are as good as they come and he'll make it look easy. But alas those days are 3-4 years down the road.

CC

That was something i wanted to mention in my post. Whe he took the title from hopkins he was still young and beat a 'legend' so great things were expected of him. When hopkins got his first title he didn't take to from a legend, he didn't have to have a rematch with a legend, or then go on to defend his title with a top 5 P4P fighter Jt did..

Not slating hopkins in anyway - but he was lucky enough to have a hell of alot easier fights as champion up untill the tito fight to settle, dominate fighters, put on a good show - JT was and still is fairly young ad had to make 2 instant title defences with top 5 alot would say top 3 P4P fighters...

So its going to be a good 2-4 years before he will dominate other world class fighters, he is still learning and still getting better.

[hardrock]

He can do it!

[ELBI16]

Ok let me say that i hated Taylor for beating one of my favorite fighters twice and i wanted him to just get koed but then i really thought about it he beat a legend and got a draw with winky (good decision by the judges ) guys sooner or later were gonna have to accept him as the legit middleweight champion of the world.

[El Kabong]

And under the training of Manny Steward he's only going to get better. Manny is going to make him a masterpeice much like he did with Tommy Hearns and Lennox Lewis....say what you will about those guys having the occasional "off night" but they dominated some damn good fighters...

Ray Leonard (in 1 and 2 The Hitman gave him a tough time)
Roberto Duran
Wilfred Benitez
Mike Tyson
Tommy Morrison
Frank Bruno
Donovan Rudduck

and so on


I will add this would be my career path for Jermain right now

1. Fight the winner of Abraham-Miranda
2. Try to fight Oscar De la Hoya or Shane Mosley at 160
3. If those fail to materialize move up to 168 and challenge Joe Calzaghe
4. If you win, stay at 168 if you lose move back to 160 and regain the title

Honestly with Joe's age and trouble with his brittle hands I think a BOXER with punching power as opposed to a power punching boxer like Lacy will give Joe trouble...anyone who can fight B-Hop tooth and nail like that is a tough mofo and I think it means he's tough enough to fight Calzaghe.

Everyone wants to see Taylor-Lacy (or Allan Green if Lacy fails to come back strong) you know it, I know it...it's just a matter of when it will happen

[hardrock]

I say wait it out...

Fight the contenders!

[Tito BHB]

yeh i get alot of people talkin bout this topic
i mean i never really thought bout taylor as good ive not really given him the chance cos i was gutted he beat the executioner twice but to be fair to the guy he aint ducking anyone i mean hopkins twice and winky wright all in a row and still undefeated! those are accomplishments no matter about the trivial matters of the decisons of judges. but where i stand on the winky fight is that i aitn mad at a draw it was close, maybe winky adged it, but its all good to me i wasnt really certain who i wanted to win anyway :P but i definately agree jermain needs some big stoppages and to impress some peeps cos he seems like he jus gettin by atm.

[shza]

I will add this would be my career path for Jermain right now

1. Fight the winner of Abraham-Miranda
2. Try to fight Oscar De la Hoya or Shane Mosley at 160
3. If those fail to materialize move up to 168 and challenge Joe Calzaghe
4. If you win, stay at 168 if you lose move back to 160 and regain the title

I'd like to see #1.

There is no way ODH or Shane will go to 160 for a fight (especially Shane, who's said repeatedly that he's at his best at 147 and plans on returning there). Additionally, while I agree Vargas will come up to 160, I think it's a huge mistake, and his heart alone ain't gonna cut it. He seriously needs to retire before he suffers permanent injuries.

3-4. Nah. I think he ought to stick around at 160 for awhile. I wouldn't mind seeing that fight, but I don't think he'd win it--he hasn't even hit his prime yet and shouldn't be vacating his MW title to go fight bigger guys now.

I think he should take 2 more relatively easy fights, then rematch Winky, which is what I think will probably happen (and what both Taylor's people and Winky have been saying).

[PRIDE OF BOSTON]

JT deserves a few tune ups just... If nothing, to rest. He has done his tour of duty. But when his next 2 fights end, its time to dominate or go home!!!!!!