One of the strangest attractions I have had in the sport of boxing has been towards the fighter Jermain Taylor. If you talk with most boxing experts, Jermain cheated his way into fame, as many believe he lost both Bernard Hopkins fights, the Winky Wright fight, the Cory Spinks fight, and there's even a concenses hatred for the Kassim Ouma win. Yet Jermain Taylor, who should have been seasoned longer, as he had only gone 12 rounds twice before fighting B-Hop for the title, did what the people wanted and took on everyone the people wanted him to fight. They wanted him to fight Bernard Hopkins simply because Bernard didn't have a good opponent, and Jermain had buzz. He should have waited, but instead, he took the fight. People didn't think he won, so he took the fight again.
Then he fights Winky Wright, and after the draw, he was even willing to fight him again. Winky wanted more money for the fight, a decision that pretty much ended his career unless you foolishly want to call the Bernard Hopkins fight big, so instead he offered the fight to Felix Sturm and Arthur Abraham, both turning it down at the time, which led him to settle on Cory Spinks. Jermain was then asked to fight Kelly Pavlik, who beat Edison Miranda on the Spinks card. Pavlik would end up stopping him, yet Jermain took the rematch, but this time lost the decision. He moved up to 168, where he fought Jeff Lacy, winning a decision, before meeting undefeated Carl Froch, taking the early portion of the fight, even dropping him, but then fading late and losing in the last round, getting stopped less then 15 seconds away from beating him. Taylor then fought Arthur Abraham, and again he was stopped late, calling into question whether or not he should even be competing anymore.
I bring up the above to tell the story of a man who fought everyone the people wanted him to fight. His record reflects that of someone who took on the best, year in and year out. Jermain fought a top ten Ring Magazine ranked fighter from 154-168 in each of his fights, from July 2005 (Hopkins) to October 2009 (Abraham). That's ten fights facing the elite. Kelly Pavlik, who beat him twice and was thought to be the true star of the division after those victories, followed that up by facing Gary Lockett, and no one thought it was a bad idea. It was okay to build Kelly; it wasn't okay for Jermain.
Enter Amir Khan vs. Danny Garcia. Amir came out and was murdering Garcia with blistering combinations and hand speed. Yet, in the third, Garcia began to time him with counter shots really well, scoring the more significant punches in the round, though Khan was landing more. Then suddenly, boom, counter left drops Khan, who bravely got up and not only took more big shots from Garcia, but attempted to throw back. He was able to keep it up until Kenny Bayless called a halt to the fight after another knockdown late in the fourth, although Khan had beaten the count and looked as though he would have gone on.
Then it began, talk of his glass jaw, though I would like to see all the men who could stand up to that great of a counter. Talks of how he was now out of the Mayweather fight, how he needs to reevaluate his camp, how his defensive liabilities will only lead to his end. Give Kell Brook the shot, they say, as they have already counted his career a loss, his second in a row, the moment he found the floor again.
Yet step back and look at the run Khan has made at 140. Andriy Kotelnik, stopped Dmitry Salita, stopped Paulie Malignaggi, Marcos Maidona, Paul McCloskey, Zab Judah, who everyone wants to fight Garcia next, Lamont Peterson (a disputed, controversial loss), and now Danny Garcia. He is fighting the best of the best, and if one looks at the history of boxing, they would see that losses come when you do that.
Worse than people not acknowledging that he is taking on the best competition, he is watching fighters who take an easier path get rewarded. Timothy Bradley opted out of the fight with Khan, the battle that would have cemented the place of the best fighter in the world. Bradley stayed quiet, away from top competition, and got Manny Pacquiao. Khan, on the other hand, continued to fight elite guys and wears the record of one who does so.
Unfortunately, the story continues, as the fighters who have the most buzz and sell the most tickets do it as premium channel built superstars. Sure, Taylor was built on premium TV, but his record reflects one who fought the best. Saul Alverez, on the other hand, who was groomed to be a Champion, won the title against Matthew Hatton, defended against Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gomez, Kermit Cintron, and Shane Mosely, who hasn't won since beating Margarito. The boxing world seems to be rewarding those who do not take on the best, which is perhaps the great crime of it all.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel though. From amateur Gold Medalist to 168-pound king, Andre Ward was brought up perfect. In fact, people were critical about his early competition, but they moved him the right way, and he is able to take on and beat the elite boxers in the world as a significant draw in his Bay area. Boxing desparately needs more fighters like that, and if they should falter, it should not be their end, which is what people are insanely saying about a 25-year-old man who hasn't even entered his prime. A loss shouldn't be the end of a talented fighter's career. It should be where the story just starts getting good.
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