Taylor Stages Late Rally to Hold Davis to Draw

Meldrick Taylor failed to win for the first time as a professional Saturday when Howard Davis battled him to a draw in a nationally televised lightweight bout between Olympic gold medalists at Atlantic City, N.J.

Taylor, the 1984 champion at 125 pounds, rallied to win the last two rounds on two scorecards and split the final two on another card.

Judge Al DeVito scored the fight 7-3 for Taylor. Judge Joe Pasquale scored it 6-4 for Davis, the outstanding boxer in the 1976 Olympics. Judge Eugene Grant scored it 5-5.

Taylor, 19, of Philadelphia, now 12-0-1 with seven knockouts, wore Davis down in the middle rounds with a body assault before finishing strongly. He was particularly effective in the seventh, scoring with eight straight body punches.

“I’m quite disappointed, but there’s no sense in showing ignorance by getting upset,” Taylor said. “There’s nothing I can do if the judges don’t see the same fight I do.

“I definitely worked more to the body. I pressed him. He threw the jab, and that’s all he had. He did a lot of clowning that made the fight look close,” Taylor said.

Davis, 30, is now 27-3-1 with 11 knockouts.