Meldrick Taylor

Meldrick Taylor had a 99-4 record as an amateur boxer, culminating with his 1984 Olympic gold medal as a featherweight. Taylor turned professional shortly after the Olympics. Taylor won all his early fights and in 1988 defeated Buddy McGirt by TKO in the 12th to win the IBF light-welterweight title. In March 1990, Taylor fought a unification bout against WBA light-welterweight champion Julio César Chávez. The fight had a huge media presence, as both fighters were undefeated (Taylor at 24-0-1, and Chávez 68-0), and Chávez was usually considered the best boxer in the world, pound-for-pound.

Taylor controlled the fight in the early rounds, and although Chávez began wearing him down in the later rounds, Taylor led by wide margins on two of the three judges’ cards going into the final 12th round. With 17 seconds left Chávez floored Taylor. With two seconds remaining, referee Richard Steele asked Taylor if he was OK, and when he looked blankly at his corner, Steele stopped the fight, giving Chávez victory by TKO.

Feeling he was weak in that fight because he had to drop weight, Taylor moved up in class and in 1991 defeated Aaron Davis for the IBF welterweight title. In 1992 he moved up to junior-middleweight but was knocked out in the fourth round by Terry Norris in a fight for the WBC title. This marked the beginning of the end for Taylor’s career. He fought Chávez again in 1994 but, well past his prime, lost by a TKO in eight. Taylor retired in 2002 with a career record of 38 wins, 8 losses, and 1 draw.