MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION TO SILENCE DOUBTERS
Las Vegas, NV-Having won the middleweight title, fair and square, Jermain Taylor has been forced to defend his winning the 160 lb. championship in almost every interview. Instead of being feted, some media critics tried todownplay the significance of his being the first man to beat Bernard Hopkins,since 1993. Why? Because some writers who go to great extremes to dubthemselves boxing experts, when in fact, nothing could be further from thetruth.
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WAY BEYOND RIDICULOUS TO SAY HOPKINS WON!
You cant give away four or five rounds, and then moan because you lost bya couple of points. People, they are quick to say, to be the man, youvegot to beat the man, well Jermain Taylor, he beat the man! Appearing on RingTalk Radio Saturday night, along with an in depth chat with HBOsLarry Merchant, Taylor was unplugged!
UNPLUGGED MEANS IN DEPTH PROBING
RT-Are you training in your hometown of Little Rock, AR? JERMAIN-No,Im here in Memphis, been here since we left Miami. Im having a greattraining camp. Leave for Vegas tomorrow. Im ready to fight. RT-Isthere more pressure on you now, than before the first fight in July? Cause,hes talked a lot of smack, saying you didnt deserve. Was this justsour grapes, and his selling the rematch? JERMAIN-All the smacktalking, it was unnecessary. You know, I dont worry about it. RT-Wehave 17 weight classes, and probably 75 guys calling themselves champion. You,are one of like two undisputed champs. What does that mean to you? JERMAIN-Ifeel great, it was a dream come true. Im just taking it in stride. Iwon all my belts in one night, but I have still have one to get though. RT-Andthat is? JERMAIN-The IBF. RT-Do these alphabetbelts, do they mean anything? I mean, you are paying these bandits, 2%, ora certain amount of your money. I can buy you the belt for $400 bucks! Doesit mean that much? JERMAIN-Ill be honest with you. Everybodyknows who the champion is. But, I will be going to get my belt, after Iknock out Bernard Hopkins. RT-Belts! They buy them for $400,and then charge you $100,000 sanctioning fee. JERMAIN-I realizethat. RT-The bad blood that flows between your promoter, Lou DiBella, and Bernard Hopkins, that got really ugly the first time around. JERMAIN-Yeah,I think its different this time around. I dont think Lou is evenworried about Bernard now. Hes taking in stride like I am. RT-Takeme through a training day in the life of the middleweight champion? JERMAIN-Inthe morning, I get up about 6:00. I then run six miles. About 11:00, Igo to the gym. RT-Is that a boxing gym? JERMAIN-Yes, Ihit the bag, or spar on sparring days. A lot of jump rope, a lot of shadowboxing. In the evening time, about 6:00, I ride a bike, after we eat. RT-Doyou ride a bike outside, or in the gym? JERMAIN-In the gym, thestationary bike, its great for you, and I love it. RT-Then you goback to watch TV, and go to bed, or what? JERMAIN-I go back, watchsome TV, or catch a movie. Im a big moviegoer. RT-JermainTaylors our guest. I see that the city of Louisville, KY, they opened amulti-million dollar museum for Muhammad Ali. Could you see thathappening for Jermain Taylor, say in 20 years in Little Rock? JERMAIN-Yessir, I can. What an honor that would be. RT-Hows your wife? Shestill shooting hoops (WNBA) for money? JERMAIN-Shes great,my daughters great, everybodys doing good. I cant complain. RT-Herscoring average didnt come down any after the baby, hah? JERMAIN-Oh,no. It actually picked up a little bit. If that had been me, Idhave never boxed again. RT-Lets be honest, you and I have beenthrough pain as boxers. But that child birth stuff, that is pain on anotherlevel. JERMAIN-Im trying to tell you, man, I just dont see howthey do it. RT-Instant message/email coming in for the middleweightchampion, Jermain Taylor. This one is coming from across the pond inEngland. The question for you is, who wins between Jeff Lacy and JoeCalzaghe? That fight is set for March. JERMAIN-Ah, man Idont.RT-Are you going to sit on the fence again, on this one too? Thisis the champion fence sitter folks, every time I get him on the show! Whowins Jermain, Calzaghe or Lacy? JERMAIN-Im going to say, JeffLacy. RT-Why? JERMAIN-He hits harder than anybody Iknow! Jeff, he hits harder than heavyweights. Hes got the power, hecomes on in the later rounds. Hes a good friend of mine. RT-Yeah,but good friend or not, somewhere down the road, theres a date for you two. JERMAIN-Exactly,me and Jeff, weve already talked about it. Hes looking forward to thefight, and you know Im looking forward to it. RT-OK, he hitshard. JERMAIN-But, you cant hit, what you cant see. RT-Weretalking with the 2000 Olympic Bronze Medallist, and now, world middleweightchampion. When you look back at the 200 team now, except for Lacy,theyve basically all fallen on their faces, havent they? JERMAIN-Yeah,well, it hasnt been good for them. RT-Why have you been sosuccessful? What makes Jermain Taylor, different from those guys? JERMAIN-Itsall God man. Ive got an excellent promoter. Look, everybody on myteam, they work together. Everything has been perfect in my career, I haveno complaints. RT-An IM from Burlingame, CA He says, allyouve got to do to win fighter of the year honors, is to knock outBernard. Can you do that, knock him out? JERMAIN-Yes, I feelthat he has no power, no speed, all Ive got to do is go in there and relax. RT-Wereyou too un-relaxed the first time? Did you get a little too wound up? JERMAIN-Iwas nervous, I was anxious, and I threw a lot of wild punches, I should havenever thrown. I made a lot of mistakes, but its not going to happen thistime. RT-Bernard, hes old. Are you going to make him lookold next Saturday? JERMAIN-Yes, I will make him look old. RT-Anypredictions? You want to talk some smack, you got a couple of seconds here. JERMAIN-Theonly prediction Ill make is this. If I dont knock him out, Ill winevery round.
Pedro Fernandez
Note: Mr. Fernandez is an award-winning writer, talk show host, and afour-time Golden Gloves champion. Comments pertaining to this article maybe left below.