Meldrick Taylor

Meldrick Taylor
Data
Birth Name	Meldrick Taylor
Weight class	Light welterweight
nationality	US-american
birthday	October 19, 1966
place of birth	Philadelphia
style	Left delivery
size	1.71 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	47
Victories	38
Knockout victories	20th
Defeats	8th
draw	1

Meldrick Taylor (born October 19, 1966 in Philadelphia ) is a retired American boxer .

amateur

The very fast Taylor had a 99-4 record as an amateur. In 1982 he won the US championship and the Golden Gloves tournament as a bantamweight . At the Junior World Championships in 1983 in Santo Domingo , he finished second after a knockout loss in the final against the Cuban Ángel Espinosa in the light welterweight division .

In 1984, when he was only 17 years old, he qualified for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles and won gold in the featherweight division . Still, he wasn't a big star after that, as those Olympics produced many more top US boxers like Evander Holyfield , Pernell Whitaker , Tyrell Biggs and Mark Breland , all of whom were promoted by Main Events .

professional

In 1984 he became a professional lightweight and defeated world-class man Harold Brazier in the twelfth fight in 1986. He then boxed in a draw against another Olympic champion (from 1976) Howard Davis .

A few more wins then earned him a light welterweight title fight. On September 3, 1988 he succeeded against Buddy McGirt in the fight for the IBF title in the twelfth and final round a technical knockout, his only important knockout success.

On March 17, 1990 it came to by far the most famous fight of his career, when he competed in a unification fight against the undefeated Mexican WBC title holder Julio César Chavez . After an action-packed fight, Taylor went dramatically and controversially in the final round two seconds before the end of the fight KO. It was on the front of the point slip. His "weak chin" was always a problem in Taylor's career, especially in connection with inappropriately offensive combat.

In 1991 he was the WBA -Titel in the welterweight to beat his undefeated countryman Aaron Davis, but this was the last fight of his career, for which he received good reviews. All subsequent title defenses were fiercely contested, he just won against the Venezuelan Luis Garcia and was down twice against Glenwood Brown. One class higher against Terry Norris he went briefly KO in 1992, his welterweight title he lost in the same year against the unknown Venezuelan Crisanto España by technical knockout in the eighth round. He was never world class again.

In 1994 the rematch with Chavez came far too late, which he clearly won by knockout. Taylor boxed for a few more years, but was only a shadow of himself, his last fight in 2002.

Web links

• Meldrick Taylor in the BoxRec database
• East Side Boxing article about the first fight Chávez (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
James McGirt	Light welterweight boxing world champion ( IBF ) September 3, 1988-17. March 1990	Julio César Chavez