Taylor: neXt generation done already?

By Al Francis: I remember back in the summer of 2005, Bernard Hopkins was undisputed middleweight champion at age 40 and was about to make his 21st defence of the middleweight title. His opponent was the 26 year old Olympic medalist and fast rising professional prospect Jermain Taylor. The fight, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions was billed as ‘the neXt generation’. Emphasis on the capitol ‘X’, clever isn’t it!

There was calls coming from all corners of the boxing fraternity for the 40 year old champion to retire after quite a negative performance against Howard Eastman, in which he took a unanimous decision to cap his unprecedented 20th defence of the middleweight title. Hopkins had already broken a promise to his mother on her death bed that he wouldn’t fight past the age of 40, now he wanted to fight the young prospect Jermain Taylor, who many were hailing as the future of the middleweight division.

The fight was close, but in the end Taylor took a contentious decision to end the executioner’s long title reign, it was described as the beginning of a fresh and new era in middleweight boxing. Six months later, they fought a rematch and again Taylor got the nod. Ricky Hatton was Ring Magazine’s fighter of the year in 2005, and despite the controversial nature of Taylor’s wins, he wasn’t far behind, the world was at his feet. Who would have thought that four years later, people are now calling for that young prospect to retire while Hopkins is gearing up for a big fight against his old foe Roy Jones, well into his 45th year?

Taylor’s middleweight title reign didn’t really go to plan, the Hopkins wins were followed up by a draw and a few uninspiring title defences before he was brutally knocked out in the 7th by current champion Kelly Pavlik. Another loss to Pavlik as well as a final round knockout loss at the hands of Carl Froch left Taylor at a crossroads, wondering where to go next. Meanwhile Hopkins had moved up in weight and outclassed light-heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver, following up with a points win over Winky Wright, a close split decision loss to Joe Calzaghe and a masterclass against the aforementioned Pavlik. After the Hopkins-Pavlik fight, B-Hop found himself in a position to retire on a high, but has chosen to fight on, after the Taylor-Froch fight it seemed the former Olympian had run out of options, until he got THAT call. That call was his invitation to an innovative new tournament that was going to set the boxing world alight.

The super six world boxing classic could have been Taylor’s road back to the top, but in the first match of the competition he found himself in a familiar position, on his back in the 12th and final round. This one was more brutal than the last one. With all sorts of reports circling the web now about Taylor being held in hospital days after the fight, can he really go on in the tournament? He’s now lost 4 of his last 5, 3 of which have come by way of a dramatic stoppage, how much can he take and would it be wise to fight on in the tournament? It’s not just a case of taking some time off and going back to the drawing board, contracts are signed for Taylor to engage in another two fights at the highest level.

There are other super middleweights who would jump at the chance to take Taylor’s place in the tournament, namely Allan Green. But ultimately the choice lies with Taylor, he must take any medical advice offered to him and talk with his family and his management. He can surely only go on if he truly believes he can still make a big impact in this tournament, if there is any seed of doubt in his mind then he should pack it in, no one would begrudge that of him and no one would want to see him get seriously hurt and cast a black mark over the super six and the sport of boxing. I imagine Jermain Taylor will not keep us waiting too long to make up his mind properly, despite what he said in the fight’s aftermath I believe he’ll let his intentions be known sooner rather than later, watch this space….

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