Will Taylor really have it that easy against Lacy?

[Wayne]

Just wondering about this cause I'm going by some comments in the other thread about Taylor partying too much and how it won't matter cause he's just fighting Lacy.

I mean when was the last time Jermain Taylor had an easy time with anybody? Ouma I guess but considering Lacy's a pressure fighter its easy to remember that Ouma who's tiny had Taylor backing up all night and gassed late.

I mean I saw Jeff last time out like most everybody and yes he looked shitty but if there was a positive too it when he had to man up and out tough Mendoza in the last couple rounds to win the fight he did, he's not broken mentally IMO.

I do favor Taylor, if he can box like he did the second fight against Pavlik he'll probably win. Although you have to wonder exactly how well he actually did box since he clearly lost that fight and look at what happened last week. I just find it hard to pick Taylor to dominate this since Taylor doesn't dominate anybody and he's looked a bit rough against pressure fighters.

No. There are a couple factors I don't think have been considered. First of all, the fighter Lacy was. Taylor has to be training for THAT fighter- a guy who can and is willing to take a punch, with boundless stamina who has fought his whole career at 168. If that Lacy shows up Taylor is in for a handful. Second, Taylor lost his last two fights, the first one by KO. Fighting a guy who is known for brutal KO power has to give one pause. Third, Taylor has stamina issues. Perhaps it was because making weight at 160 was too difficult, but this is a question that wasn't answered in one fight at a catch-weight. Fourth, Taylor's defense is marginally better than Lacy's and his chin is nowhere near as good. One good shot from Lacy could put Taylor on queer street and one thing a healthy Lacy does is put punches together.

I'm not saying that that is the Lacy Taylor will meet, but it is possible. And if Lacy is on his game Jermain could get his 3rd straight loss.

[HattonTheHammer]

Im still just waiting for lacy to come out and claim he has another injury.

I never truly got the whole lacy hype and even pre calzaghe believed he was there for the taking.

If taylor has truly bulked up to 168 and not just put on 8pounds through extra eating less training etc he shouldnt have no problems getting a comfortable decision over lacy and moving on to better things.

Lacy on the other hand doesnt neccesarily have to win the fight just look good in defeat and if he can do that and manage to stay injury free i see no reason why he cant go on and hold a few notable titles!

[Kev]

I really want Lacy to win. The way people go on about him you'd think he was 0-4 in his last 4 fights.

He's only ever lost, to Calzaghe, a fight which really hurt his confidence. Then he tore his rotator cuff against Tyspko which almost cost him that fight, and which clearly affected him against Manfredo.

At least against Mendoza he was back to throwing punches again so his shoulder is hopefully better.

I really want him to stun all those who have written him off so easily.

Come on Jeff!!!

[HattonTheHammer]

I really want Lacy to win. The way people go on about him you'd think he was 0-4 in his last 4 fights.

He's only ever lost, to Calzaghe, a fight which really hurt his confidence. Then he tore his rotator cuff against Tyspko which almost cost him that fight, and which clearly affected him against Manfredo.

At least against Mendoza he was back to throwing punches again so his shoulder is hopefully better.

I really want him to stun all those who have written him off so easily.

Come on Jeff!!!

Wasnt just him getting beat by JC though was it.

He lost confidence after 2-3 rounds, got seriously fucked up by calzaghe who is hardly the hardest of punchers, lost every single round, had no other plan than his original one.

All i commended him for that night was his chin and the manfredo performance injury or not done nothing to suggest he`ll ever be able to compete with the big boys!!

[littlerock]

It won't be a cakewalk for Taylor but it shouldn't be rocket science for him either. He has the tools to beat Lacy easily if he stays on his game.

Lacy might as well be 0-4 in his last 4 fights as he's lost one to Calzaghe, and barely eeked by the likes of Tsypko, Manfredo, and Mendoza. Even though he was finally throwing punches in his last fight, he still boxed for shit. Does he know what a jab is? If not he'll learn quickly as Taylor's jab will be in his face all night. Lacy bowls forward swinging widely with his chin out in the open - not a good defensive tactic against someone with a strong, quick jab like Taylor's.

I agree that Taylor has not beaten anyone impressively in quite a while, but his most impressive win was probably against Ouma, who is similar to Lacy in that he is a wide-open offensive fighter. Taylor hit him with everything but the kitchen sink in that fight. Yes, he took some shots himself but only because he had no respect for Ouma's power at 160 (or lack thereof). We will definitely see Taylor landing similarly on Lacy, and after his 2-3 near knockdowns in the Mendoza fight, I'm not convinced Lacy will be standing at the end of the fight. Taylor almost had Pavlik out in the 2nd round of their first fight, and Pavlik's defense is miles ahead of Lacy's, and his chin is as good if not better.

Lacy's only hope in this fight is jumping on Taylor early, hoping to overwhelm him for the surprise KO, or hanging in until the championship rounds and swinging for the fences, banking on Taylor's stamina issues.

Taylor's stamina may improve in this fight, seeing as how he's cutting less weight and won't be as dehydrated for the weigh-in.

As for him putting on quality muscle instead of just not conditioning himself down to 160, most of what he was cutting to get down to 160 WAS muscle. This is a big, athletic mofo. He'll be just as physically impressive at 168 as Jeff Lacy is, with better boxing skills to boot.

[littlerock]

Article from the local paper for those interested in this fight:

Hopkins inspires Taylor
by Chris Givens, Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Jermain Taylor, by his own admission, does not watch a lot of boxing on television.

But there was no chance Taylor would miss the Bernard Hopkins-Kelly Pavlik fight Oct. 18.

Taylor, 30, is the only person to fight both fighters, and both figure prominently in Taylor’s boxing career.

Taylor beat Hopkins twice to win and retain his middleweight championship belts in 2005, and then lost to Pavlik twice to lose those same titles.

So how did Taylor feel about Hopkins thoroughly beating Pavlik on Oct. 18?

“I don’t really know how I feel about that,” Taylor said from Miami. “I mean, of course I watched that fight. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I figured Hopkins would win the fight, but I didn’t think by that much. He made Kelly look like a kid. I felt bad for Kelly, he’s just a champion on paper. Hopkins, I’m proud of him. He’s that old and still taking care of business. Hopkins is a beast. It takes a special kind of person to beat Hopkins.”

Taylor also said Hopkins’ victory has given him the proper motivation to begin what Taylor is calling the “second phase” of his career.

There was a time when Taylor was considering retiring. Not anymore.

“I can do this for a long time,” Taylor said. “Look at Hopkins. He’s proving you still can do it as long as you want to. It means a lot to me to see these guys on top beating these young guys. It shows me you can get out of this business at any time. I’m very motivated by him.”

Mad about Miami
Taylor returned to Miami for training camp for the first time since he defended his undisputed middleweight championship Dec. 2, 2005, with a second consecutive victory over Hopkins.

He said it was the perfect place to revive his career.

“I do have good memories from Miami,” Taylor said. “It’s good to come back to this. A lot of things have been changing in boxing for me. I think I’m getting my love back, just for boxing. I’m getting the love back for the game. I think I lost that.”

Taylor is training in a new gym, but everything else, notably the weather, is as the former champion remembers.

Taylor’s trainer, Ozell Nelson, is just as pleased with camp thus far.

“At first I was very leery of coming here, but when I got down here, the gym is so hot, it’s like we were made for it,” Nelson said. “I’m actually kind of nervous. Things are so good, I’m waiting for something bad to happen.

Punching partners
Camp started with an emphasis on conditioning, but that is beginning to change.

“We have some great sparring partners here, and Jermain is really getting some good work,” Nelson said. “We’re still getting our running in, getting our legs right, but it’s time to start hitting people, too.”

Taylor is sparring 10 rounds a day, and will move into 12-round sessions this week.

One change from previous camps is that Taylor is interacting a lot more with his sparring partners, talking and joking with them, and taking advice from them. It’s all hands on deck for this fight.

“It feels real good to get in there with these guys,” Taylor said. “I don’t have to be mad at them to do my thing. I’m still learning from them.”

Strategy session
Nelson and Taylor have been watching plenty of videotape from Taylor’s two losses to Pavlik, the only two losses of his career.

Taylor’s vulnerability to Pavlik’s right hand struck them as an area that must be addressed. “You’ve got to work on defense,” Nelson said. “You don’t want your offense to be your defense. We’re going to dodge that right hand, stay behind him. Lacy’s nickname is ‘Left hook,’ but he has a sneaky right hand. We’re going to stay away from that.”

Much of the sparring and shadow-boxing work in camp has been focused on getting Taylor to use his left hand more, and Nelson and Taylor both expect that it will be Taylor who brings the fight to Lacy.

“I want him to dictate the pace, be more aggressive, with his left hand, hooking off the left and jabbing,” Nelson said. “We don’t want to let Lacy plant his feet and get comfortable. We don’t need to knock Jeff Lacy out. I want him to box Jeff, move and pivot and frustrate him. Relax in there, but dictate the fight.”

Rested and ready
Taylor will be stepping into the ring on Nov. 15 after a nearly nine months away from boxing.

Nelson said he was nervous how Taylor’s transition back to competitive boxing would be after the longest layoff of his career, but so far, in training camp there have been no signs of rust.

“His mental attitude has been great, like he found himself again,” Nelson said.

Taylor said he was ready to get back in the ring before camp even started. Now that he’s in the middle of camp, it’s like he never left the ring.

“I got away from it for a while, and I needed it,” Taylor said. “Now it’s just me and boxing again.

“This is the second phase of my career, and I think it’s going to be better than the first one.”

[JT Rock]

It won't be a cakewalk for Taylor but it shouldn't be rocket science for him either. He has the tools to beat Lacy easily if he stays on his game.

Lacy might as well be 0-4 in his last 4 fights as he's lost one to Calzaghe, and barely eeked by the likes of Tsypko, Manfredo, and Mendoza. Even though he was finally throwing punches in his last fight, he still boxed for shit. Does he know what a jab is? If not he'll learn quickly as Taylor's jab will be in his face all night. Lacy bowls forward swinging widely with his chin out in the open - not a good defensive tactic against someone with a strong, quick jab like Taylor's.

I agree that Taylor has not beaten anyone impressively in quite a while, but his most impressive win was probably against Ouma, who is similar to Lacy in that he is a wide-open offensive fighter. Taylor hit him with everything but the kitchen sink in that fight. Yes, he took some shots himself but only because he had no respect for Ouma's power at 160 (or lack thereof). We will definitely see Taylor landing similarly on Lacy, and after his 2-3 near knockdowns in the Mendoza fight, I'm not convinced Lacy will be standing at the end of the fight. Taylor almost had Pavlik out in the 2nd round of their first fight, and Pavlik's defense is miles ahead of Lacy's, and his chin is as good if not better.

Lacy's only hope in this fight is jumping on Taylor early, hoping to overwhelm him for the surprise KO, or hanging in until the championship rounds and swinging for the fences, banking on Taylor's stamina issues.

Taylor's stamina may improve in this fight, seeing as how he's cutting less weight and won't be as dehydrated for the weigh-in.

As for him putting on quality muscle instead of just not conditioning himself down to 160, most of what he was cutting to get down to 160 WAS muscle. This is a big, athletic mofo. He'll be just as physically impressive at 168 as Jeff Lacy is, with better boxing skills to boot.

Jeff has to stop winding up and start working behind the jab, he has a sweet right that works well for him when he throws the jab. Also Jeff was known for liking it messy on the inside when he WAS a good in-fighter, now he has gotten lazy in close and gets outworked. I really dont know if he is physically shot or just trying to get it all back together after the Calzaghe fight and the serious injury coupled with ring rust.

Jermain seems to be the smoother of the 2 at this point but might have confidence issues.. Taylor too has abandoned his money punch that got him to the dance, THE JAB!!! If Taylor dosent get lured into a brawl he can pick apart this version of Lacy. On the other hand if Jeff can work a little harder on the inside and put his punches together, he can catch Jermain and stop him.. If its a close fight down the stretch I see Jeff gutting it out and putting it all on the line to nip a desicion

[Rantcatrat]

I really want Lacy to win. The way people go on about him you'd think he was 0-4 in his last 4 fights.

He's only ever lost, to Calzaghe, a fight which really hurt his confidence. Then he tore his rotator cuff against Tyspko which almost cost him that fight, and which clearly affected him against Manfredo.

At least against Mendoza he was back to throwing punches again so his shoulder is hopefully better.

I really want him to stun all those who have written him off so easily.

Come on Jeff!!!

I was at the Epifanio fight and the majority of the fans were booing when the decision was announced because a lot of people had Mendoza winning that fight.

If Taylor fights for 12 rounds, which is saying a lot, Taylor easily beats Lacy.

[CutMeMick]

Judging JT by his last performance which was a loss and judging Lacy by his last performance and the way he's been fighting lately. I have to say yes, JT will soundly beat Lacy...

I think the winner should fight Kessler next.

[ono]

Think they will be both low on confidence. Also think Taylor sometimes fights to his opponents level like he did against Ouma.

Think Taylor will win but i reckon it could be a close-ish fight.

[hfahrenheit]

it's hard to know which JT we're getting... i just hope he gets every bit of Emanual Steward out of his system, Steward wasn't good for him.

This fight should define JT stylistically; somebody above mentioned the 2nd Pavlik fight and his tempo in it and i couldn't agree more- if JT is the same over anxious guy who blows his load early, and then (gassed) tries to coast the rest of the fight for a decision, i don't think he'll attract big name attention ever again. Hopefully JT controls the tempo and gets an impressive stoppage, and there are zero reasons to question his work rate and energy levels.

[Deanrw]

It all depends on what Lacy shows up. He might come in and fight the fight of his life while Taylor comes in uninspired and thinking he will have a easy fight.

I cannot see Taylor losing to Lacy, but he very well may look bad beating him.

Lacy may come in knowing full well that this is his last fight and go for broke.

[hfahrenheit]

...but he very well may look bad beating him.

that's what i'm most afraid of...

[RP33]

If JT fights Lacy the way he fought Pavlik in their second fight, then he will win by UD 100%.. If he starts to trade too much, he will risk getting caught.. I think JT has decent power, someone mentioned he doesnt hit hard, but his jab is brutal and he has a powerful right hand also.. He doesn't have the BEST chin, but no glass jaw by any means.. I think that if JT can soundly win the first 3-5 rounds, keeping Lacy at bay, i don't see how he'd lose the fight unless he gets into a brawl and gasses towards the end, leaving him open for some clubbing Lacy right hands (see: Pavlik/Taylor I)..

With that said, If Taylor wins he should definitely fight Kessler.. If Lacy wins by KO and puts on a good show, then he should fight Kessler.. But if the same Lacy that we've seen of late comes into this fight and somehow pulls off a messy KO with JT up on the cards, i don't see how he'd come close to beating Kessler..

[RozzySean]

If JT fights Lacy the way he fought Pavlik in their second fight, then he will win by UD 100%.. If he starts to trade too much, he will risk getting caught.. I think JT has decent power, someone mentioned he doesnt hit hard, but his jab is brutal and he has a powerful right hand also.. He doesn't have the BEST chin, but no glass jaw by any means.. I think that if JT can soundly win the first 3-5 rounds, keeping Lacy at bay, i don't see how he'd lose the fight unless he gets into a brawl and gasses towards the end, leaving him open for some clubbing Lacy right hands (see: Pavlik/Taylor I)..

With that said, If Taylor wins he should definitely fight Kessler.. If Lacy wins by KO and puts on a good show, then he should fight Kessler.. But if the same Lacy that we've seen of late comes into this fight and somehow pulls off a messy KO with JT up on the cards, i don't see how he'd come close to beating Kessler..

I agree 100%.