Chavez, Taylor Try to Top That Other Fight of Year

Months ago, this bout was picked by nearly everyone in boxing as the fight of the year for 1990.

Then came Buster Douglas’ upset of Mike Tyson in Tokyo on Feb. 10, and that fight still has the boxing world somewhat stunned. At the Las Vegas Hilton this week, conversations drift quickly from tonight’s long-awaited matchup of Julio Cesar Chavez and Meldrick Taylor to the most talked-about heavyweight fight in decades.

Still, Chavez and Taylor will proceed tonight at 140 pounds with probably the best matchup of fighters in the lighter weight classes since Aaron Pryor and Alexis Arguello staged two memorable battles in 1982 and 1983.

Two champions, in their prime, and both undefeated. Well, an asterisk is required. The marquee has a 68-0 by Chavez’s name, but he was disqualified in a 1981 bout. Later, the referee’s call was overturned.

Chavez, 27, has 55 knockouts and, even more impressive, is 16-0 in championship fights.He has been a champion in three weight classes and is currently the World Boxing Council’s junior-welterweight champion.

Taylor, 23, was a 17-year-old from Philadelphia when he won the 1984 Olympic gold medal as a featherweight. He is 24-0-1, the only blemish a draw in 1986 with Howard Davis. Taylor, whose primary asset is great hand speed, has 14 knockouts. He’s 4-0 in championship fights since taking the International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight title from Buddy McGirt in 1988.

Chavez has been a 2-1 favorite all week. Both Taylor and his trainer, Lou Duva, maintain that Taylor is in the best shape of his life, which they see as mandatory.

“If Meldrick goes in there at 99% or 98%, he’s in trouble--that’s how much we think of Chavez,” Duva said.

Said Taylor: “Chavez is very good under pressure, and he’s very patient. He’s the best guy I’ve ever fought, that’s for sure. But he’s the type of guy who can make me better.

“I am motivated. I will adjust and adapt. He’s going to try to counter (punch) me to the ropes. That’s the only place where he’s effective, when he’s got you on the ropes. He’ll even try to push me to the ropes.

“I’m very confident. To me, Chavez is not a legend. He’s a guy who is going up against the toughest fighter he ever met. I’m ready to go 12 rounds to beat him if I have to. He’s a great body puncher, but I’ll see those shots coming. He sets himself a split-second before he throws the body shot. Most Mexican fighters do that.”

Taylor once was labeled an indifferent trainer. Early in his pro career, Duva caught him in his hotel room the night before a fight with a pizza. Even now, he figures to have a more difficult time making 140 than Chavez. “Except for a week Meldrick took off two months ago, he’s trained 12 weeks for this fight,” Duva said. “I can’t imagine how this kid could have pushed his body any harder for this here fight.”

Since he won his first world championship at super-featherweight, in 1984, Chavez’s forte has been superb conditioning. He’s not a knockout puncher, but he is a nonstop puncher. Almost always, he is stronger in the late rounds than his opponents. He throws short, hard, crisp punches inside. His short left hook to the ribs is spoken of by trainers in awe. The typical finish to a Chavez fight has his opponent gripping his ribs, pain showing on his face. Rarely does an opponent finish on his back.

Almost always, Chavez tries to maneuver his opponents to the ropes, there to unload short, sharp combinations on a foe who can’t back up.

Taylor has trained carefully to avoid that. Duva, before each sparring section, has made an inner ring in the ring, putting down four 12-foot long adhesive tape strips and ordering his fighter to stay inside the tape.

Of Taylor’s speed, Chavez gives you only a wink and a smile.

“There are a lot of ways to stop his speed,” he says, through an interpreter.

Chavez’s people hope a convincing victory over Taylor will catapult Chavez into boxing’s financial stratosphere. He is making $1.4 million for this fight, Taylor $1 million.

Some wonder why this little man’s war isn’t a pay-per-view fight, rather than an HBO telecast. The reason, promoters say, is that although Chavez is very popular in Mexico and the Latino neighborhoods of Southern California and the Southwestern United States, those areas tend not to be wired for cable TV.

“We looked at pay per view, but we felt that HBO was paying us more ($2.5 million) than we could generate with pay per view,” said Dan Duva, Taylor’s promoter.

“People with more than a passing interest in boxing love this fight. But could you get $30 per household, across the country? We didn’t think so. Chavez is a great fighter, but he’s just not that well known in the East. When he fought in Atlantic City, they had to give tickets away.”