I was on Twitter last night while the fight was going on (http://www.twitter.com/BlkSportsOnline) and after the 12th round someone sent me a Tweet asking me what I thought of Jermain Taylor here was my answer:
"If Jermain Taylor opened a 7-11 he would close at 10pm"
Jermaine Taylor is one of the greatest 1-6th round fighters of all time and one of the worst 6-12th round fighters of all time.
His fight with Carl Froch provided you with all the evidence you need of why Taylor has never reached his full potential. This fight should have been over and it should have been over early. Taylor was dropping bombs on Froch and he was the first fighter to drop Froch ever, but similar to his first fight with Kelly Pavlik he couldn't finish the deal.
When I talk about the NBA I always talk about the difference between players with a "Serial Killer" mentality and those who do not. It is the difference between a Dwyane Wade and a Vince Carter. Taylor does not have that "serial killer" mentality. Taylor is extremely talented, but when you have a man hurt you have to put them away because if not it will come back to haunt you.
One of my favorite announcers of all time is Gus Johnson and he made two outstanding points in the middle of the fight. The first point was that he started to see fatigue in Taylor as early as the 5th round. He pointed out that he wasn't as sharp as in the beginning of the fight and that he had a history of fading down the stretch. The second point was extremely impressive considering Gus has just started to call boxing matches for Showtime. He made a point that Taylor because he was getting tired was holding his guard up high and that Froch should start looping his hooks around the guard as oppose to throwing straight shots. Now conventional wisdom says that is a bad idea because it leaves you open for counters, but in Froch case it was the perfect strategy. In the end it was those looping hooks that ended Taylor's night.
The 12th round will go down as a classic. The Taylor corner told him the wrong thing, but asking him to go for the knockout. What they should have told him is to:
But he decided to fight and while that was a noble thing to do it was the wrong thing to do. Once he got caught with the right hand by Froch he tried to hang on and he almost made it, but his legs were gone and his chances for renewed glory also went up in smoke. Just look at his face after the first knockdown. It simply screams out at you:
Taylor is a bum
Just retire Jermain
Pretty good fight...I would like to see Froch & Kessler!!I think Pavlik will knock him out again...
Good fight
WHAT'S THAT OLD WESTERN SONG? "YOU GOT TO KNOOOOOWWW WHEN HOLD EM, WHEN FOLD, WHEN TO WALK AWAY..... AS A NATIVE HOG, MY BOY NEED TO GIVE IT UP. IT'S BEEN A HOG OF A RUN, BUT I THINK THE RAZORBACK IS DULL AND AIN'T NOTHING THAT CAN SHARPEN HIM. TRUTH HURTS!!!!!!!!
You're right about Gus Johnson. He made great points and called a great fight. Probably the best announcer in sports right now.
xxtts