• Match-Up
  • Performance
  • Significance
  • Demand
  • Commentating

Cabazon, Ca– (Morongo Casion Resort & Spa) Jermaine “Bad Intentions” Taylor (29-4-1, 17 KO) ends his two year layoff against Jessie “The Beast” Nicklow (22-3-3, 8 KO). Taylor away from the sport due to medical terms.

The last time we saw Jermaine “Bad Intentions” Taylor, he was KOd with 6 seconds left to go in the 12th round against Arthur Abraham. For Taylor, it was a cruel kind of deja vu. In his previous fight, he was KOd by Carl Froch in the 12th round with only :14 seconds left in the final round.

The former undisputed champion’s career was coming to an inglorious end. Jermaine Taylor suffered bleeding on the brain and short term memory loss. But he never retired. He is back as he been green lighted by the medical advisory panel of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. 26 months after the frightening loss to Abraham, Taylor has reunited with trainer Pat Burns and reduced to middleweight for the first time in four years. At age 33, scares and all, Taylor is starting over and is on a mission to reinvent himself. Taylor lost 20 pounds in 20 days to make weight.

Round 1: Taylor comes out aggressively throwing body shots and uppercuts. Jermaine calms down and works the jab, landing it easily. Taylor looks flat footed and his jab still looks lazy. Nicklow’s plan is the stay close. Jermaine landing hooks with power as Nicklow right eye reddens early. Nicklow is clearly outclassed. Jermaine’s defense is still very suspect as he takes a slow, wide left hook from Nicklow. Round 1 to Jermaine.

Round 2: Jermaine unloads on Dennis. Jermaine’s trying to finish Nicklow early. Taylor’s jab is not snapping as it was in round one and he’s still projecting his straight right hand as he missing two in a row as the bell sounds. Round 2 Taylor.

Round 3: Nicklow comes out aggressive but doesn’t land anything effective. Taylor gets caught by a looping overhand right by Nicklow that stuns him momentarily. Taylor wisely clinches. Jermaine’s head movement is unimpressive. He’s being hit by punches he should be able to evade easily. Big right hand from Taylor :05 seconds before the bell. Best punch of the fight. Round 3 to Taylor.

Round 4: Nicklow warned for punching the back of the head. Jermaine awkwardly plotting his jab. You get a sense that Jermaine is trying to figure out how to time his jab at times. At other times, he snaps the jab well. He doesn’t seem fluid tonight. NIcklow keeps coming and is keeping the fight nasty. Nicklow’s mouth and nose are bleeding from Jermaine’s jabs. Round 4 to Taylor

Round 5: Taylor comes out working the jab- snapping Nicklow’s head back. Jermaine seems to have fixed his bullrush problem of over pursuing his opponent. Taylor is not fighting inside tonite. When Nicklow gets in close, Jermaine clinches. Taylor throws a 4 punch combo that’s mostly blocked. The jabs are adding up but Nicklow is willing to get inside to keep the fight messy. Taylor working the body with powershots. Nicklow complains about low blows form Taylor and the ref warns Taylor. Round 5 to Taylor.

In the 5th round 40 of 62 at a 65% connect rate for Taylor, 4 of 19 for Nicklow.

Round 6: Nicklow’s corner urging Jesse  to throw more punches. Taylor circles and jabs while keeping distance. Jermaine’s activity seems to have slowed down just a bit. Nicklow is moving in with his head down without throwing- causing more breaks in the action. Both fighters throw a the end of the round. Jermaine throws a punch after the bell and the ref deducts a point.

Round 7: Taylor comes out jabbing. Nicklow still walking into jabs. Jermaine is circling well against Jesse. Jermaine ended the round with a big right hand and some intensity as he bounces in front of NIcklow with swagger. The 1-2 is landing easily now. Round 6 to Taylor.

Round 8: Taylor flurrys. The ref stops the fight with :36 seconds left! Why??? Nicklow was clearly defending and was not on wobbly legs.

Taylor-Nicklow Fight Punch Stats:

Taylor lands 212 of 437, 49%. Nicklow lands 30 of 187, 16%.

Corona stops the fight the first time Nicklow was in trouble. Seems Corona was looking for a reason to stop the fight. That was the first time Nicklow was truly in trouble. The crowd chanting “bullshit!” I have to agree the stoppage was bad.

“I think I hurt it [his right hand] early in the fight. That’s why I stopped throwing it.” Jermaine continued, “I felt rusty. But, as the rounds went on, I started feeling comfortable. I was trying to have fun in there. But it was hard with a  guy like Jesse. he leads with his head. He doesn’t want to fight. He wants to brawl.” Taylor also addressed his intentional foul, “No sportsmanship. I never fight like that. I got a little frustrated about his head coming in and did something stupid. It’ll never happen again. I’m sorry to all of my fans in Arkansas. That’s not the type of guy I am.”