Moohead Radio

One fighter was prepared. The other was not.

One fighter overcame adversity. One did not.

Both fighters were in good physical condition, but only one was in great physical condition.

You would think from the way HBO kisses Emanuel Steward’s ass, that Jermain Taylor would have had the perfect fight plan going into this fight. Truth be told, it was the absolute wrong strategy. I bet serious Bovine dollars that Jack Loew’s face lit up like an Atlantic City slot machine when he saw Taylor come out to slug. And I bet he started sizing the belt for Kelly after Kelly made it through Taylor’s 4 round power zone.

The thing I can’t figure is this. How can a Hall of Fame trainer tell his guy to stand in front of a freight train? The damn judges were doing their jobs…they all had Taylor 3 rounds ahead at the time of the KO. All Taylor had to do was run. After 3 rounds, Mr Hall of Fame trainer says to Taylor: “Keep making him fight. he’s not used to this pace.”

Who was Steward seeing on the other side? Pavlik’s Dad? Pavlik was just warming up. If any of you saw Pavlik’s training regimen, you’d know why he got up in the 2nd round, and why his head and legs cleared in 2 minutes. And you’d think that Mr Press Conference Steward would have watched film on Pavlik. He doesn’t wear out in the later rounds. Taylor does.

By the time Steward kept telling Taylor “your conditioning is good” between every round, I knew it was a case of sheer denial. Denial that his fighter was losing strength. Denial that his fighter was less strong than Kelly. Denial that some kid from Y-town was good enough to beat a gold medalist.

In the meantime, Loew is cooly dispensing solid advice. “double up that jab, and follow with a straight right.” Loew KNEW his fighter was in great shape because he saw to it. All Jack needed to see was Kelly getting up in the second and finishing the round. After that, Loew’s cool composure set the stage for a great KO.

Why does Jermain Taylor suffer from poor late round energy? Ask Tommy Hearns and the scores of other Steward fighters who have been mistrained by him. Ask Mr 7 rounds himself…Lenox Lewis, who used Steward and proved how a heavyweight can hold a title without endurance in the ring.

Today all the talk will be about Kelly, and rightfully so. But last night’s other fight ended in a KO. The one between Manny Steward and Jack Loew. Congratulations, Jack.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 30th, 2007 at 9:08 am and is filed under Boxing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.