He looked shot to shit. He needed a gift stoppage to bail him out from going the distance with the mighty Jesse Nicklow. I think Chavez Jr would beat Taylor at this point. Thats how shot Taylor is.
I thought he did fine. He barely got hit at all and won every round. Shot to he'll? How do you figure. It was a terrible stoppage granted, but I don't know how anyone could conclude from last night that he's shot. I think he'd moider Chavez.
Disgraceful stoppage, but Taylor looked O.K to me. Sharp, fast hands, good jab, didn't lose a round. Hooked of the jab. Definately didn't look shot. The problem was he didn't stop the guy as soon as expected or hurt him as much as expected. He also didn't use the RH much. When he did, it looked fine, & as soon as he did, he stopped him.
I was happy to see him hooking in there. Basically, the guy he fought was crap (and small) so I don't put much stock in his performance, but I don't think he looked bad or shot and I certainly would give him a chance to beat Chavez jr.
I've never been a Taylor fan, but I honestly couldn't disagree with you more. He didn't look like a world-beater by any stretch, but "shot to shit?" He landed at will all night and only an injured hand prevented him from doing more. I don't think he's going very far in his comeback, but that's mainly due to the fact that he still possesses all of the same flaws. But I just don't get what fight you saw where you come to the conclusion that he's shot, or looked any worse than he has in the past few years. All due respect, of course.
And while the stoppage was terrible, I thought Taylor was going to get rid of him later that round. He was throwing in combination for the first time since early in the fight, and Nicklow shut down the moment Taylor stepped up the attack. IT was a matter of time, but the timing of the stoppage itself was God-awful, and from a normally decent ref.
It's tough to get too wound up over a stoppage in a fight as inconsequential as last night's, but it was inexcusable nontheless, and whether you thought Taylor was on his way to forcing a legitimate stoppage or not is irrelevant. Seriously, the appearance that a legitimate stoppage is inevitable is no excuse for stopping a fight prematurely. Kirkland/Angulo is a great and recent example of why.
