By Shaun La: When the name Meldrick Taylor rises up in the circle of boxing debates, the fans of the sport of boxing for over 30 years will tell you that he had the quickness which permitted him to throw a barrel of combos. He could show his speed by throwing a flash fueled jab.
Meldrick moved by a rhythm that paced his well-trained footwork. At the top tier of his boxing ability would be that he had the spirit of a fighter who would brawl to the point that it added emphasis on boxers from Philadelphia being ready to fight their opposition, face to face, every round.
Well-known to the boxing world is the fact that Meldrick was a part of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team, sharing an experience to fight for his country with teammates such as Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, & Virgil Hill. All of these names expanded to form professional careers that would be a brace for the sport of boxing throughout the 1980’s, 1990’s & even into the early part of the 21st Century. Meldrick’s participation on the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team (as a featherweight) earned him the prestigious Gold medal for the United States and his professional career was pretty much in his own hands—hands that he could use to pull himself up to get a grab of fame and fortune.
As with any boxer, he boxed often when his professional career became a reality in 1984. With 21 professional bouts under his record (20-0 with 1 draw & 10 knockouts) Meldrick laced up his gloves to take on IBF World Champion, Buddy McGirt. This IBF World Championship bout was a competitive lesson for Meldrick, because Buddy McGirt was a significant professional boxing test, until Meldrick was able to pull off the knockout in the 12th round. For anyone who was loving boxing during this time, it was not far-fetch to think that the future had to make some room for this Olympic Gold medal owner who was gradually achieving wins on a professional level.
Next week will mark the 25th year (March 17th, 1990) since Meldrick Taylor boxed Julio César Chávez for the 1st time. If you are a new boxing fan, the boxing world invites you into going & finding this full fight on You Tube. To keep a powerful bout that was important to the sport of boxing concise, it was the punches in bunches, heart of a lion, new star for boxing, named Meldrick Taylor being matched up against the slower, body punching, clever as a fox with his boxing style, Julio César Chávez who was carrying a distinguished 68-0 boxing record. He had more knockouts than Meldrick had professional boxing matches. It would serve zero justice to write out what happened in this hard-fought bout, because it is a bout that every boxing fan should see with their own eyes.
For any new boxing fan who is intrigued by the Floyd Jr. vs. Manny Pacquaio mega-bout, if you need a place to hold your interest down until the 2nd of May, go to this bout & watch it. I would not dare say that Floyd Jr. & Manny’s bout will mirror the display that you would see in Meldrick Taylor vs. Julio César Chávez, because nobody knows what their (Floyd Jr. vs. Manny) championship bout will evolve into; however, it is a resourceful starting point to contrive an understanding about boxers vs. brawlers, speed vs. technical punching, and how to judge a bout based on being attentive to both men in the ring and to every second in each round.
There are many theories to why Meldrick Taylor did not live up to his potential. Some side with the notion that he exited the ring with his first professional lost and a sizable part of his spirit being left in the ring after being defeated by the champion, Julio César Chávez. There is a reality in boxing that reminds us as a society that boxers truly do offer their health to a sport in order to partake in a mental, emotional, spiritual and physical chess matches that can change their lives with fame or fortune. The other side of this partaking can be that they can end up with health issues, a small portion of their prize-fighting purses after every one in their entourage pull out their fees, and when you realize the lack of proper money guidance—it can look like they ended up putting their life on the line for peanuts after so many people used them for their money and fame.
It is not about feeling sorry for Meldrick or any boxer that put on gloves to prove that they had a chance to win. Boxers are obedient to being against the odds, they have fortitude, along with enough passion to know that they, at one point and time, loved to perfect the sweet-science. The determination and dreams that they want to be a world champion is the centerpiece of their training camps. But, on a level of respecting where this sport of boxing has grown from and through, when you see a boxer give their all in a single bout, or in an entire career; as a result, all of this summons common sense that when you see Floyd Jr. and Manny Pacquiao pull in over a 100 million dollars a piece, we have to remember to tilt our hat at boxers like Meldrick Taylor who placed some square inches on the foundation that Floyd Jr. and Manny Pacquiao stand on today.
Wherever the debate about Meldrick Taylor’s boxing career may take you, please recall that he gave the sport of boxing a place to honor his contributions as an Olympic Gold Medal winner, and a professional boxer. His career was not as long and fulfilling with championships as some predictors would have suggested, but he always came to fight. What he did was risk it all in the ring, and even though money is important to prizefighting boxing, being a world champion is something that he will forever own. Thank you for showing us your boxing gifts, Meldrick Taylor.
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