BOXING : Taylor Dances in 12th After Learning Lesson

Meldrick Taylor said he wasn’t thinking about the recent past, but he sure wasn’t going to give history a chance to repeat in the final round against Aaron Davis on Saturday night.

Taylor had the fight well in hand after 11 rounds, and the crowd of 2,800 at the Convention Center knew it. But Taylor still was booed as he circled rapidly around the tired Davis en route to the World Boxing Assn. welterweight championship.

Taylor had lost the International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight title to Julio Cesar Chavez when, far ahead on two of the three official scorecards, Taylor was knocked down and then stopped with two seconds left.

“If I went out there and fought, it would have been a dumb fight,” Taylor said of his final three minutes Saturday night at the Convention Center. “I knew I had the fight won.”

Davis said he felt he had won the fight, but Taylor had a clear margin on all three cards.

Davis could not deal with Taylor’s hand and foot speed in the first six rounds in suffering his first loss after 32 victories, 20 by knockout.

Taylor, 26-1-1 with 14 knockouts, came out blazing, mixing his attack to the head and body in dominating the first four rounds. He shook Davis on three occasions.

Taylor was penalized a point by referee Arthur Mercante in the second round for hitting low.

Davis, who weighed 145 1/2 pounds, one-half pound more than Taylor, had an edge in the fifth round, and he scored with several short blows to the head. Taylor regained control in the sixth, the most active round of the fight.

The pace slowed in the last five rounds and Davis held his own, scoring with several sharp left jabs. The jab was Davis’ most effective weapon, but he was unable to use it much in the first half of the fight because Taylor kept him busy defending himself.

Judge Frank Cairo scored it for Taylor, 115-112, and judges Vincent Rainone and Phil Newman each favored Taylor, 116-111.

Taylor, 24, of Philadelphia, and Davis, 23, of New York, each made $525,000.

On the undercard, Curtis Summitt, 145 pounds, of White Plains, N.Y., knocked out Engels Pedroza, 146, of Las Vegas, at 1:08 of the 10th round. Pedroza was unsteady as he left the ring and was taken to a hospital as a precaution.