Chavez-Taylor II: How Durability, Not Skill, Decided It
How Julio Cesar Chavez stopped Meldrick Taylor in their 1994 rematch, and why durability, not skill, decided the outcome.
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Julio Cesar Chavez stopped Meldrick Taylor in the eighth round of their rematch on September 17, 1994, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, closing the book on one of boxing's most contested rivalries with a result that left almost no room for debate.
The first fight needed a debate. The second one didn't.
What Happened In The Chavez-Taylor Rematch
Billed as "Unfinished Business," the 1994 rematch carried four years of baggage from the original March 1990 unification bout, when Taylor had outboxed Chávez for much of their March 1990 unification bout before being dropped late in the 12th. Referee Richard Steele's stoppage in that fight, with two seconds remaining, denying Taylor a points win, became one of the sport's enduring controversies.
There was no such gray area this time. Midway through the eighth, Chávez dropped Taylor with a left hand. Taylor rose at eight, dazed and bleeding from the mouth. Chávez immediately attacked with unanswered punches until Mills Lane intervened at 1:41. Referee Mills Lane's handling of the finish stood in sharp contrast to Steele's four years earlier. Steele had stopped the first fight while Taylor was upright with only two seconds left. Lane completed his count, allowed Taylor to continue, and stepped in only after Taylor covered up without returning fire.
Why Taylor Couldn't Take Chavez's Punch Anymore
The real story of the rematch is what happened to Taylor's body between 1990 and 1994. Terry Norris stopped Taylor at junior middleweight in 1992. Crisanto España knocked him out later that year at welterweight. To make weight for Chavez, Taylor had competed as high as 154 pounds before cutting roughly 30 pounds to make the 140-pound limit, a brutal cut that showed almost immediately once the fight started.
Taylor had absorbed heavy head and body shots for nearly 36 minutes in 1990. In the rematch, the first clean left hand from Chávez produced a completely different reaction. The hand speed was still there early. Taylor (32-3-1, 18 KOs) still possessed enough hand speed to win early exchanges, and when he boxed on the move he gave Chavez fits. But Taylor repeatedly abandoned that advantage, however, trading at close range along the ropes and in corners, the same tactical error that nearly cost him the first fight. Without the chin and stamina he'd had in 1990, that mistake proved fatal to his chances. Through seven rounds it was competitive on paper, with one judge had Chávez leading 69-64, while the other two scored it 66-66, but the scorecards didn't reflect who was actually winning the physical battle.
Chavez, for his part, did what he always did against fighters who wanted to test him at close range. Chávez (90-1-1, 77 KOs) kept advancing, worked the body, and forced Taylor to fight at his pace.
A Card Built Around A Referendum
Don King stacked the September 1994 Showtime pay-per-view with talent, including six world title fights, including Frankie Randall against Juan Martín Coggi and Félix Trinidad's knockout of Yori Boy Campas. None of it mattered once Chavez and Taylor got in the ring. This was always going to be judged as a referendum on the first fight, and it turned into something else entirely: a look at how quickly a prime fighter's physical tools can disappear. Taylor came back for a rematch to settle a score from 1990. What he ran into instead was a version of himself that could no longer survive what he'd survived once before.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Julio Cesar Chavez fight Meldrick Taylor in their rematch?
Julio Cesar Chavez stopped Meldrick Taylor in the eighth round of their rematch on September 17, 1994, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
How did the Chavez-Taylor rematch end?
Chavez dropped Taylor with a left hand in the eighth round, and referee Mills Lane stopped the fight at 1:41 after Taylor covered up and stopped returning fire.
How is the Chavez-Taylor rematch different from their controversial first fight?
In the 1990 original, referee Richard Steele stopped the fight with two seconds left while Taylor was still on his feet, sparking decades of debate; in the 1994 rematch, Mills Lane let Taylor continue after a knockdown and only stopped it when Taylor stopped defending himself, leaving little controversy.
