Meldrick Taylor

CTL-E-7100 · Person · other · 1966–present

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07972 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-7100.

Meldrick Taylor, born October 19, 1966, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, learned his craft in his hometown's gyms and, BoxRec records, claimed a 99-4 amateur record before winning the featherweight gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics at age seventeen, defeating Nigeria's Peter Konyegwachie in the final. Famed for his hand speed, he turned professional in 1984 and won the IBF light welterweight title on September 3, 1988, stopping James 'Buddy' McGirt in the twelfth and final round. On March 17, 1990, at the Las Vegas Hilton, he met WBC champion Julio César Chávez in a unification bout between unbeaten champions. Taylor led on two of the three scorecards entering the twelfth round; Chávez knocked him down with seventeen seconds left, Taylor rose by the count of six, referee Richard Steele asked him twice if he was all right, received no response, and stopped the fight at 2:58 of the twelfth — with two seconds remaining — awarding Chávez the technical knockout; that official result stands, and its dispute is carried in this record's notes. Taylor moved up and won the WBA welterweight title by unanimous decision over Aaron Davis on January 19, 1991, losing it to Crisanto España in 1992. He fought until 2002 and finished with a record of 38-8-1 with 20 knockouts.

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0482. Contested disposition — Chávez vs. Taylor, March 17, 1990: the OFFICIAL result is a twelfth-round technical knockout for Chávez at 2:58, and it stands in this record. Both sides, attributed, never blended: Taylor's side — he led 107-102 (Moretti) and 108-101 (Roth) on two cards against one 105-104 card for Chávez (Giampa), rose by the count of six, and would have won a split decision had two more seconds run; his camp protested that he was fit and that his attention was drawn by the flashing ten-second light and his corner. Steele's side, in his own account (Sports Illustrated): Taylor never responded verbally, shook his head or looked at him — his attention was on Lou Duva, who had climbed onto the apron, which reinforced the stoppage — and a referee stops a fight when a hurt fighter does not respond, regardless of the clock; Steele's later formulation, that no fight is worth a man's life, is the defense's standard statement. Unproven corruption speculation that circulated afterward is NOT carried: it was never proven and was denied by Steele and the Nevada commission, and this record does not repeat it as fact. Identity/variance: his amateur mark is carried as a CLAIMED 99-4, BoxRec's own label. Chávez's record at the bell is given as 66-0 by Sports Illustrated and 68-0/69-0 in some retrospectives — the description therefore calls both men simply unbeaten champions, and the variance is flagged here. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Taylor's record turns on two seconds — the fastest hands of his class, an Olympic title at seventeen, two professional titles, and a defeat so narrow in time that it named his autobiography. Photo: CLEARED, Public domain, Bill Apter photograph published in the KO Magazine February 1989 issue whose Commons description names Meldrick Taylor.

Sources

• BoxRec. "Meldrick Taylor." BoxRec.com. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)
• Sports Illustrated. "Two Seconds That Shaped a Lifetime" (Chávez-Taylor retrospective). SI.com, March 17, 2010. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)
• "Meldrick Taylor." Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)

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