(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Chester Rivers: He’s too inexperienced for a fight of this magnitude. He’s been protected by his promoter. He has a problem with his stamina. If you think I’m criticizing Saul Alvarez for his upcoming mega fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr, you are absolutely WRONG.
The criticism was just a few of the flaws the boxing experts expressed about former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor in his preparation for his first title fight against Bernard Hopkins on July 16, 2005.
The fight was billed as The Next In Line with a story line somewhat disturbingly similar to The One which makes me wonder could this be deja vu? Like Alvarez, Taylor was the younger stronger fighter.Taylor 26 was fourteen years younger than Hopkins 40 much like Alvarez 22 vs. Mayweather 36. At the time of the fight, Hopkins was celebrating nearly 17 years as a pro. We’ve heard Floyd boast recently about his unblemished 17 year career.
Jermain Taylor was unbeaten at 23-0. Known as Bad Intentions, Jermain had a crowd pleasing style with his youthful and reckless aggression. Many of his opponents were often 154 pounders moving up to face Taylor. The most notable win on his resume was over William Joppy a former middleweight champ. Many felt that Joppy was already a shot past his prime fighter.
Promoter Lou DiBella drew criticism with accusations of protecting Taylor against legitimate competition. Taylor and his team believed this fight was his destiny. Many thought a fight of this magnitude was a little premature for the young phenom.
Bernard Hopkins, known as The Executioner, was the cagey ring veteran. Much like Mayweather, Hopkins took immense pride in his defensive prowess. Bernard style was very unappreciated because it wasn’t very crowd pleasing. It wasn’t until his destruction of one of boxing’s biggest stars, Felix Tito Trinidad, when Bernard would finally got the respect he so longingly desired. The ex-con could finally shed the proverbial chip off his shoulder and celebrate his status as one of boxing superstars.
On fight night, both men seemed calm and ready for action. Few in the boxing world gave Taylor more than a punchers chance to win this fight. Bernard’s strategy was to keep it close until the later rounds then take advantage of Taylor’s alleged stamina issues. The surprise came when Jermain, who is usually the aggressor, came out of his corner more patient than normal concentrating more on Hopkins’ body than his elusive head.
Each round was closely contested with a case to be made for both men to argue they won. In the end, Taylor was awarded a controversial split decision victory. Taylor would go on to defeat Hopkins in a rematch six months later.
Many experts are only giving Canelo Alvarez a punchers chance to defeat Floyd Mayweather on September 14, 2013. Canelo has stated on several occasions his strategy is to be patient and attack Mayweather’s body. Mayweather much like Hopkins is showing extreme confidence in his experience and defensive prowess.
It is often said “If we do not learn from history then we are bound to repeat it”. My question is will Floyd Mayweather learn from Bernard Hopkins mistake or will deja vu enable Saul Alvarez be The One /Next In Line?
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