BQ- Which opponent that beat Taylor after the first Chavez fight, would have beaten him in his prime as well?
BQ2- Which fighter to beat Taylor was the worst?
i think the stoppage was right. considering what we found out after the fight (the extent of taylor's injuries), one more right hand could have been disastrous.
only norris would have beaten a prime taylor. he was too big for meldrick. chavez would probably have won a rematch against an uninjured meldrick as well.
darren maciunski was probably the least skilled (i won't say 'worst').
That is an extremely difficult question to answer.
At the time of the fight, I said it was absolutely unfair!
How could he (Richard Steele) steal that fight from Taylor? The man won 35 minutes and 50 seconds of the fight, and ended the bout on his feet, and he lost! That makes absolutely no sense! He threw more, land more, and had a higher punching efficiency than Chavez, and he lost! And he only got knocked down one time, and got up at the count of 6, and he lost! At that time, I said that it was completely unfair.
However, after seeing the damage the fight inflicted on Taylor, I thought, well maybe it was a legitimate stoppage.
But now, as I look back on the whole situation, I think it is unfair to Taylor.
Hindsight is always 20-20. So, you could argue that the fight should have been stopped due to the damage that was incurred to Taylor. But, honestly, how was 2 MORE SECONDS really going to matter!?! The fight was stopped with 2 seconds left! Had Richard Steele allowed it to continue, Chavez would not have had time to even throw another punch before the bell rang.
The man stood up! That's what it comes down to. Had he not beaten the count, or if there was more time left in the bout, then OK, stop the fight. But the fight was OVER. He had gone 12 rounds, and finished on his feet. So you can say whatever you want about the aftermath of the fight (as far as Taylor's brain damage goes), Taylor won that bout, end of story!
BQ: None of the boxers that Taylor was put up against after this fight, maybe other than the rematch with Chavez, could have beaten Taylor in his prime.
Norris, Espa?a, Maciunski, Al, García & Martell. Does anyone even know what this list of names is? These are the boxers that beat Taylor after Chavez. Terry Norris is the only name that may ring a bell. But that's just because he beat another boxer after the end of his prime had past, Sugar Ray Leonard.
BQ2: Take your pick! Of the 6 boxers he lost to, other than Chavez, none of them are/were the caliber of boxer that Taylor, or Chavez were in their primes.
There will always be questions whether JCC's "march to 100 wins" & corruption at the hands of Don King played a pivotal role in this fight. Taylor did enough to win the fight in my eyes. Given his prior record & deep amateur experience in difficult positions, he deserved two more seconds. Lou Duva was completely infuriated after this fight (think stroke level blood pressure).
Richard Steele was infamous for premature stoppages in huge fights throughout his career. He was the type of referee who could make odds makers extremely nervous in Vegas.
Referee Richard Steele could have definately let the fight go for a few more seconds which would have probably resulted in a UD in favor of Taylor.
Fair or unfair...
BQ- Which opponent that beat Taylor after the first Chavez fight, would have beaten him in his prime as well?
BQ2- Which fighter to beat Taylor was the worst?
