It could be time for Taylor to retire

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

ne of the hardest things to watch
QO: boxing is an old fighter past his

prime. There is always a mixture
of sadness and sympathy for the one in the
ring, and even more so for guys who in
their day were great champions, tremendous
boxers or both. Right now, that appears
to be the case for middleweight Jermain
Taylor, who has just announced that he is
taking an indefinite “leave of absence” after
back-to-back knockout losses to Arthur
Abraham and Carl Froch.

Taylor was pummelled in both bouts,
and was knocked cleanly out against
Abraham in the 12" round of their fight.
Counting those two, he’s now dropped four
of his last five matches, and getting KOed in
three of them.

Taylor was supposed to be one of the
biggest names entering into the made-for-
television Super Six World Boxing Classic
(where the winner gets crowned the new
WBA and WBC Super-middleweight
champion), but opted to withdraw after his
stunning loss to Abraham. After all, isn’t
Taylor the same guy who not once but twice
defeated the legendary Bernard Hopkins?
Wasn’t he at one time the undisputed
middleweight champion of the world? And
at age 31, he really isn’t seen as that old by
most observers.

While all of the above may be true,
it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see that
Taylor is more than a few steps off his
game, and apparently his now-former

trainer, Lou Dibella, is of the same mind.
After watching his man get beat to high
hell for 12 rounds against Abraham,
Dibella resigned from his post in fear that
after getting knocked out so many times,
Taylor was putting his long term health at
permanent risk.

Taylor was a great champion, but he’s
a perfect example of a fighter who would
have been wise to stay within his weight
class. When he lost his middleweight
championship to Kelly Pavlik and -
then failed to regain it in a rematch,
Taylor decided to move up to the super-
middleweight division at 167 pounds. And
when he took a unanimous decision against
Jeff Lacy to-earn a shot at Froch and his
WEC super-middleweight title, everything
seemed to be getting back in order.

Then came the 12" round knockout
to Froch, and that was followed by a six-

month layoff before the disastrous Abraham

fight, where the German power puncher
picked Taylor apart.

Taylor has stated that he’s taking time
off for a while to evaluate his situation and

then attempt a return to boxing. I hate to say

it, but I almost hope that doesn’t happen.

Boxing history is littered with sad and failed

comeback bids by fighters seeking that
one last shot at glory, and far more often
than not they don’t have a happy ending.

I know that Taylor won’t be leaving the
sport on his terms if he calls it quits now,
but it is probably best for all involved if
he does. Nobody wants to see him get hurt
permanently.

Jermain Taylor

 

It’s time to go for gold

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

To opening ceremonies to the 2010
Winter Olympics, our Olympics,
take place this Friday. In just four
days, the entire world is going to be here
to see just how big of a show we can put
on. Like it or not, the Games are here, and
this is the only chance we’re going to get
to make the most of them.

I understand that the Olympics are
wildly unpopular with a lot of people, and
make no mistake about it, they have their
faults. Government deception, costs that
seem to just keep ballooning, increasingly
violent protesters and the iron grip of the
IOC and VANOC have all done a great
deal to curb the enthusiasm that people
should have for the Olympics.

However, at their core, the Games
are a good thing, and they’re good for this
province and this country. The profile of
Vancouver is about to be immeasurably
raised and we’re all fools if we don’t take
advantage of that opportunity right now.
It is time to enjoy this. Are the Olympics
expensive? Yes, but they’re happening, so

why sit at home and complain about
everything when you could be out
making the most of just how fun this
really is going to be?

There has been so much negative
press coverage about the Olympics,
it seems like few people are willing
to take the time to explore some of
the truly awesome things that there
will be to do once things kick off.
Why not check out Molson’s Hockey
House at Concord Place, right in the
heart of Vancouver? Wayne Gretzky
has said that he’ll be there for at
least one day, and for the rest of the
Olympics it will be the premier
place to watch all of the men’s and
women’s hockey action from every
team. Or what about David Lam Park in
Yaletown, where live bands such as Blue
Rodeo and Alexisonfire and many more
will be playing for the duration? There are
tons and tons of places like this, all over
the city, just waiting to be found, and all
it takes is a Google search to track them
down. The energy level that will be here
when the whole world comes to call is

going to be simply amazing.

Even if you aren’t all that into
venturing out into the city, the actual
Games themselves are going to be a blast.
Thanks to the Own the Podium initiative,
which has generated over $22.34 million
in funding for winter sports in 2009 alone,
Canada has its best chances of all time
at not only contending, but leading the
gold and overall medal count this time

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 

around. Contrast that to the last time
Canadian city played host the the
Winter Olympics, Calgary back in
| 1988, where Canada garnered just
| five medals, none of them gold, and
this time will be vastly different.
Not only will Canada field the
favourites in men’s and women’s
hockey, where we almost always
dominate, but we also have some of
the leading contenders in curling,
speed skating, the luge and skeleton
and of course, snowboarding. One of
© the best Olympic traditions I have is
to take a full day off work or school
i and devote it to non-stop Olympic
coverage. There is always something
on to watch and even if you couldn’t care
less about some of the sports in the past
three years, it’s always fun to cheer on
the Canadians and get info of the athlete’s
back-stories.

Nobody has said that the Olympics
are perfect, and there’s no doubt that there
might be quite the hangover, but when
they’re here, don’t work to not enjoy
them. Just get swept up in the ride.

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