BoxRec

Just watched the Taylor fight with Chavez, brutal doesn't really some it up. The sad part is that not only was Taylor robbed by an outrageous Richard Steele stoppage but to see the state of Meldrick now. That fight must have taken so much out of him because he is a shadow of the bright happy kid he was then.

bigfatjourneyman wrote:Just watched the Taylor fight with Chavez, brutal doesn't really some it up. The sad part is that not only was Taylor robbed by an outrageous Richard Steele stoppage but to see the state of Meldrick now. That fight must have taken so much out of him because he is a shadow of the bright happy kid he was then.

Olympic champ at 17. That still defies belief! I also remember him destroying James "Buddy" McGirt for the IBF light-welterweight title in 1988. Meldrick suffered a dreaded achilles heel injury in 1989 and lost some of his foot speed when he came back. I remember Courtney Hooper taking him 12 hard rounds on his return and then came the Chavez thriller. Meldrick suffered a busted cheekbone in that one. The fight definitely took something out of him. Amazingly, when they met again a few years later (after Chavez had lost to Frankie Randall and then won back the title unconvincingly), the "smart money" went on Taylor to win.
But Chavez had more left.
Taylor is completely 'punchy' now I hate to say. His words are slurred, and he walks on his heels.

bigfatjourneyman wrote:not only was Taylor robbed by an outrageous Richard Steele stoppage.

That's a harsh statement. The bottom line is that by the point of the stoppage Taylor had been beaten senseless - if you're following the rules it's irrelevant whether there's three rounds or 10 seconds left, the fact is he was in position to defend himself.
Although I feel it was the right decision I can see why some people will feel Steele shouldn't have jumped in, but to say he was robbed by an outrageous stoppage is way wide of the mark.

Funnily enough, on another post on ESB they were going on about whether Fernando Vargas would ever be the same and I alluded to Taylor.

Meldrick was kind of the Wilfred Benitez of his day – by that I mean beating very good fighters while still basically a boy. However, the Chavez fight really did take something away from him. (I think he swallowed something like two pints of his own blood in the first fight). There was something missing after that. I mean he was floored twice by Glenwood Brown when winning the (WBA I think) welterweight title.

However, for all his speed, Meldrick was the opposite of Benetiz when it came to defensive nous. Like Benitez, 'The Kid' wasn't much of puncher but unlike the silky skilled Puerto Rican, he loved a brawl, which meant a long career at the top was not very likely. I mean, he took some major-league punishment during his career. Two wars with Chavez, being destroyed by Terry Norris and dismantled by Crisanto Espana, plus having already boxed at such a high level from a young age must have put immense strain on him – no wonder he's suffering.

Sad if it's true he's suffering the affects now. Amazing because Terry Norris also seems to have the same kind of problems due to the punishment he took during his career.

amazingly up until 2002, Taylor was still being licensed to fight!

He did indeed swallow 2 pints of his own blood during the fight, after sustaining a fracture in his orbit bone around the eye, the blood was sliding down the inside of his skull, and down his throat for 4 or 5 rounds.

Didn't Taylor also have a very active amateur career, which probably took something out of him too?

Meldrick was never the same fighter after that, very sad that he ended up broke, I assume he did because he fought on way way past his best.

At the time Richard Steel was lambasted by pretty much everyone, but the fact is Taylor was getting pounded senseless, and as we all know, one more punch is sometimes all it takes. Just ask Michael Watson or Gerald McClellan.

Thw whole reason why the stoppage was harsh was the fact Taylor beat the count easily and he had his wits about him as you could tell from his amazement when Steele stopped the fight. Ofcourse I accept that had that happened say in the middle of the 8th round then I would probably not disagree with it but the kid had laid his soul on the line and didn't deserve to lose the fight.

James,

Taylor was Olympic champ at 17 but despite his skills couldn't shake off trying to live up to the Philadelphia image of a fighter.

I did feel bad for Taylor, more so now, but you have to admit Steele's stopage in the dying seconds has seen this fight go down in history as an All Time Classic.
The whole of Mexico must have leapt to their feet, as their great warrior comes from behind to stop the American golden boy with seconds to go.
Straight out of a Rocky movie....

After all those years of playing 2nd fiddle to those damn yankees, their man pulls of one of the great superfight wins.

Viva Chavez!!

I think it was actually the very issue of Boxing News that had a pic of the Chavez-Taylor fight on the front which inside had a small little piece written by my own fair hand on work experience! It was either that issue or the week either side anyway....

It was the aftermath of that fight that got me into boxing..

...Chavez was pictured on the front of Ring magazine and they compared him to great Mexican warriors of the past.

I bought that issue and was instantly addicted.

Although you obviously felt sorry for Taylor getting stopped so tragically late, I always felt sympathy for Chavez too with regards to that fight. He got so much stick but the stoppage was correct, Taylor could not continue.

It was the pugilistic equivalent of Man.Utd scoring 2 goals at the death in the Champions League 99 final.

Goz wrote:Although you obviously felt sorry for Taylor getting stopped so tragically late, I always felt sympathy for Chavez too with regards to that fight. He got so much stick but the stoppage was correct, Taylor could not continue.

It was the pugilistic equivalent of Man.Utd scoring 2 goals at the death in the Champions League 99 final.

Good analogy there Goz. He is was a shame. I like the comparisons of Vargas and Taylor, because Taylor was still a good fighter for a few years after the Chavez fight and did okay in the rematch. Although it was an older Chavez.... The one aspect in which I disagree, is that I don't think Fernando is shot - just never thought he was as great as people proclaimed he was. The champions he beat were not outstanding ones (I think Wright beat him), and every time he stepped up to the P4P level, he was found a little wanting.

The same couldn't be said of Taylor.