Who wins? Lets say the Taylor that took apart McGirt vs the Cervantes that took apart Dejesus. As brilliant as that Taylor was, I'll go with Kid Pambele by late stoppage. Cervantes was too long, rangy, and powerful for Taylor to cope with in the long run. Of course Tayor would have success scoring on the inside with his insane handspeed, but as the fight progresses more and more Cervantes height, pistol jab, and accurate power punching take its toll on Mel, and Taylor is stopped circa the 11th or 12th. I think Cervantes is one of the more underrated greats in history. I'd pick him over Chavez @ 140 as well.
Taylor really is more lore than reality nowadays --- I feel compelled to say it. This is not to imply on my part I think Taylor couldn't have been as good as he is sometimes perceived to be, but you have to prove it decisively with the big fights & the big victories --- Taylor impressed the daylights out of me with a masterclass thumping of (an admittedly-drained) Buddy McGirt, & was a real gun in neutralising Chavez in large stretches, but I just cannot see him as that great a fighter. He had a short, explosive peak, much the way he fought, but I really do think he's out of his depth with a Cervantes who Xplosive quite rightly points out is probably under-rated. He was all done by the time Pryor got his hands on him. The loss to Benitez really sets his status back, IMO. I think that's the propelling factor in his being under-estimated. Taylor was more different than alike to Benitez & made more errors. He was more open defensively, & I at times wondered about his focus when under the gun. He seemed to go in & out of offensive spurts, taking away from himself with a little showboating, or brawling when he should've been boxing. It looks like a Cervantes decision to me.
I'd pick Cervantes to win but he would definitely be troubled by the one astonishing talent Taylor clearly had: HANDSPEED I dont know about Cervantes besting Chavez at 140
