By Tom Donelson

Photo © Josh Barron/FightWireImages.com

 

Jermain Taylor is one of those fighters who continue to win regardless of the odds.  Saturday night, Taylor won an easy decision over former junior middleweight champion Kassim Ouma. Ouma is a pure windmill, who loves to throw a voluminous amount of punches in every single round.

In most of his fights, Ouma averages 100 punches per round, thrown at a machine gun pace. And, while he does not have overwhelming punching power, he simply wears his opponent out.

When he met Taylor, the windmill hit a brick wall that would not break. Taylor does not look like a classic fighter. Yes, he has a powerful right and a sledgehammer jab, but there are times that he still retains habits from his days as an amateur.  Occasionally, very wild, wide punches accompany his sharp combinations, crisp jab and hard uppercuts. Taylor often fights in a retreating fashion and his power, while substantial, is not powerful to knock his opponent out with a single punch.

Part of Taylor’s problem is that he hasn’t been overwhelming, but at the same time in his last four bouts, he has beaten the world’s best. He won two close battles with Bernard Hopkins and managed to draw with the tricky, defensive minded Winky Wright. Ouma presented his own problems, a pressure fighter with quick hands. These are not exactly fighters that are easy to look good against but Taylor manages to find a way to persevere. 

Let take his most recent affair with Ouma.  Taylor took Ouma out of his game.  When they stood in the center of the ring, Taylor’s power slowed Ouma down consistently.  At no time did Ouma come close to throwing 100 punches per round and rarely did he connect on effective power punches. The only way that he struck an effective blow on Taylor way was by way of an accidental clash of heads.  Beyond that, Ouma was reduced to ineffectual barrages that were often interrupted by nasty power punches or occasional clinches. 

Taylor never allowed Ouma to get a rhythm going.  Part of being great fighter is imposing your will on the other guy or refusing to allow the other guy to simply fight his fight.

Against Winky Wright, Taylor forced Wright to be more aggressive and opening him up to his own power punches.  The battle between Wright and Taylor was a close affair that ended up in a draw, but the bottom line was that Taylor retained his title and no one should question the result.

Yes, it was a close fight that could have gone either way but no one really can dispute that Taylor earned his draw, if not a victory.  Before that, he fought two close battles with Bernard Hopkins that were close to being identical.  After Hopkins lost his two battles with Taylor, he went on to embarrass light heavyweight king Antonio Tarver; showing that Taylor defeated a Hopkins that was still very dangerous and capable of doing damage. 

Taylor's accomplishments over the last two years have been impressive. He twice beat a sure hall of fame fighter in Hopkins and took Winky Wright to the limit, one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport. In Kassim Ouma, he fought a tough determined foe with world class skills who was considered the by some as the best junior middleweight in the sport.

Say what you want about Taylor, he has fought some of the best and he so far refused to allow the sanctioning bodies to dictate his opponents.  But, his desire to fight the very best has cost him the IBF title. 

Taylor is the recognized Middleweight champion for the simple reason that he fought a superior quality of opponents over the past two years, and has not lost. 

What's next for Taylor?  One option that everyone is talking about is a possible match with Super Middleweight king Joe Calzaghe. This has big money written all over it and Taylor has the power and quickness to stand up to Calzaghe but Calzaghe's superior skills may prove to be oo much for young fighter from Arkansas.

There is also the possibility of a rematch with Winky Wright but this is very dependent upon the cooperation of Wright, who is now talking about a 2007 clash with Oscar De La Hoya.  Of course, De La Hoya has to get past Floyd Mayweather, Jr. before that could happen.

Other options could include a fight with IBF title holder Arthur Abraham, when Abraham recovers from the injuries suffered at the hands at Edison Miranda. Or it could be Miranda, the tough as nails puncher from Columbia.

Taylor understands that true champions fight the best available fighters and legacies are based on winning the big fights. Taylor may not be a classic fighter or may not even win his big fights with heroic knockouts.  What he does showcase, is the ability to dig deep in order to find a way to win. And that is the first sign of a champion.