11.01.05 – By Coach Tim Walker – Big ups to HBO! Something good happened Tuesday evening when HBO leveraged camp Taylor into taking a chance. Jermaine Taylor who is being touted as the next middleweight king had been recently added to the Hopkins/Eastman card scheduled for February 19. His list of potential opponents were many but eventually narrowed to little known Troy Rowland of Michigan and Daniel "The Haitian Sensation" Edouard who had recently won the USBA Middleweight title by knocking out Willie Gibbs.
It didn’t take long before the human nature of Taylor’s camp deemed that a BOUT with Rowland was far more appealing than a FIGHT with Edouard. This subsequently put Edouard out of the picture and Rowland in the opponent to be category. Edouard who had been meticulously calculating his next move silently resolved himself to facing Arthur Abraham one best kept secrets of the middleweight division and one of the hardest hitters in all of boxing. Not only would the Sensation face him but he would travel to Abraham’s hometown of Germany to do it. At least that was his mindset until he got the call..
In the blink of an eye there was HBO moving faster than a speeding bullet. Leaping over tall management in single bounds. With the power of a show date in one hand and the strength of a demand in the other the cable giant inclined Taylor’s camp to reconsider their choice. In the world of boxing where styles make fights somebody’s got to be aggressive. Pitting a natural counter boxer against a natural counter boxer usually equals an uninteresting fight.
HBO has always had a knack for determining who its next superstar would be and with Hopkins being 2 or 3 fights away from hanging up his gloves the present is the future. Critiques say that Taylor has never fought anybody who could seriously challenge his skill or wasn’t intimidated by his mystique. After all we witnessed William Joppy, a seasoned veteran albeit a retired season veteran, perform aerobics in the final six rounds of his encounter with Taylor for fear of being KO’d. Some feel Taylor’s skill diminishes his opponent’s heart and makes them succumb to his will. Others say that his major opponents were hand picked to fit his boxing style and never offered any real challenge. Whatever the case, his bout with Edouard won’t be like anything he has experienced in recent fights.
Edouard brings a different dimension to the fight. He wants to fight not box and that may be the difference. Whether it will be the difference on the side of Taylor or Edouard can only be determined in the ring. The answer to the question of who is the next middle champ will be known on February 19th. Big Ups to HBO on starting 2005 off with a huge bang!