Meldrick Taylor vs. Howard Davis Jr.

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Meldrick Taylor 136 lbs drew with Howard Davis Jr 138 lbs by SD in round 10 of 10


OLYMPIC WINNERS FIGHT TO LIVELY DRAW
By Phil Berger, the New York Times, August 17, 1986

ATLANTIC CITY, Aug. 16— Howard Davis, a gold medalist from the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and Meldrick Taylor, a gold medalist from the 1984 Los Angeles Games, fought to a spirited 10-round draw at the Sands Hotel today.

Davis, a 30-year-old fighting out of South Brunswick, N.J., used a defensive style, combining footwork and ring cunning in seeking to keep Taylor off- balance while counterpunching him.

Taylor, the 19-year-old from Philadelphia, was the aggressor and concentrated on a body attack, figuring that the swiveling upper-body moves of his opponent would make Davis's head an elusive target.

In the end, though, neither man was able to establish his fight plan sufficiently to persuade a majority of the judges.

Judge Al DeVito scored the bout 7 rounds to 3 in Taylor's favor, while Joe Pasquale had it 6 rounds to 4 for Davis. The other judge, Eugene Grant, scored it a draw, giving each man five rounds.

There were no knockdowns, and neither man was ever in serious trouble.

In an earlier bout, another Olympic gold medalist, Pernell Whitaker, a lightweight from Norfolk, Va., remained undefeated (9-0, with 6 knockouts) as he survived a fourth-round knockdown to win a lackluster unanimous decision over Rafael Williams of Colon, Panama.

It was Whitaker's first fight since he broke his left hand while winning a 10-round decision over John Montes last March.

Against Taylor, Davis varied his tactics. At times he was on his toes, circling away and flicking the jab. Or he would stand and duck deftly under Taylor's punches, almost daring him to connect. When Taylor came boring in close, Davis would shunt him aside with his gloves or grab the back of his neck, a tactic for which he drew warnings from Referee Joe Cortez.

Davis, who had lost his last bout, against Joe Manley in February, was on the verge of losing credibility as a contender. The strong showing against Taylor keeps his chances alive to fight again for a title. Davis twice lost in lightweight championship bouts, against Jim Watt and Edwin Rosario, but he said after the bout against Taylor that he now expected to campaign as a super lightweight, a 140-pound limit. He weighed 138 today.

Taylor's standing as a lightweight should not be adversely affected because of the draw. He weighed in at 135 3/4, and his record is now 12-0-1 with 7 knockouts. Davis is 27-3-1 with 11 knockouts.

After the bout, each fighter claimed to be more deserving of a decision.

"I threw more effective punches, especially to the body," said Taylor. "All he had was a jab and his clowning."

"I definitely thought I won," said Davis. "The second half of the fight he was slowing down, losing concentration."

After the bout, Davis credited Carlos (Panama) Lewis, a trainer, for "giving me confidence and spirit."

Lewis was suspended by the New York State Athletic Commission after it was discovered that padding was removed from one of his fighter's gloves before a bout. Asked about the propriety of having Lewis involved in Davis's preparations, Larry Hazzard, the New Jersey boxing commissioner, said: "If Panama Lewis is banned, that falls in the purview of New York." [1]

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