At 160lbs, naturally. Taylor loses every single MM around here, and Canelo is seen as a fat legged midget. As such, I shall be curious to see who y'all pick in this one. The Sly One is Curious!!
I'd take Taylor by UD. Despite his many flaws, I see tiny Canelo having a lot of problems with Taylor's size, jab and quickness. And he hit hard enough to keep Canelo honest. Canelo doesn't have the firepower Pavlik had, nor is he as big or as strong as Pavlik, and doesn't have the same type of relentless style. He's more of a methodical counterpuncher, which plays into Taylor's hands. I think it's a close fight though, cause Taylor sucked. I could see Canelo hurting him down the stretch, but Taylor holding on to win a decision.
I think Pre-Pavlik Taylor is tougher than post-Pavlik Taylor. I think Pavlik beat his confidence right out of him...and with it went any punch resistance he may have had. As such I'm picking the pre-Pav Taylor by UD also and for the same reasons you have given, minus any late scares.
I say there'd be late scares cause Taylor's stamina was putrid. But he hangs in there cause Canelo isn't that great of a finisher. That's another attribute Pavlik had. Once he got a guy in trouble, he was a DEVASTATING finisher.
Taylor via ugly decision. His size and range would allow him to control it early, but by the mid to late rounds, Canelo gets more aggressive and begins to land some good shots. It won't be enough, though.
Taylor by Decision....like some said Taylor stamina will be at 20% by round 8...but Canelo isn't a marathon runner himself..so he won't be able to take advantage. If Canelo feet were just a bit a bit faster..he would put a hurting on alot of guys...but he has SLOOOOOOW legs..fast hands but slow feet.
Taylor had ONE performance in his career... ONE... where I thought after that he might potentially be a great - the Alex Bunema fight. He looked like a future P4Pder in that fight, and never again looked that good in any fight. Granted, Bunema was nothing special but was a solid fringe contender at the time. Taylor destroyed him. But that performance was an aberration.
I think we haven't seen the best of Canelo as of yet but so far I agree with the consensus that he is a size too small here and loses a decision
regarding the bunema fight, it is a perfect example why guys like spence and crawford do not belong on a p4p list. not yet anyway.
