Atlantic City, NJ – Garrett Wilson, of Philadelphia, PA, and Andres Taylor, of Johnstown, PA, meet for the second time in less than 19 months as they battle for the vacant North American Boxing Federation (NABF) cruiserweight title on Saturday evening, April 14, at Bally’s Atlantic City.
The Wilson-Taylor championship contest tops a seven-bout card which begins at 7.30 pm. in the 1,500-seat Grand Ballroom. Wilson and Taylor met the first time on Sept. 11, 2010, in Johnstown, PA, in a scheduled eight-round fight which Wilson accepted on three days notice. The outdoor match was interrupted by rain after the fifth round and later resumed with one official voting for Wilson, one for Taylor, one for a draw. Since then, Wilson, 29, has beaten Aaron Williams, of Las Vegas, NV; Omar Sheika, of Paterson, NJ; Chuck Mussachio, of Wildwood, NJ, and Pedro Martinez, of Philadelphia, PA. He captured the United States Boxing Association (USBA) cruiserweight title by beating Sheika and defended it against Mussachio.
Wilson is 12-5-1, 6 K0s. He is rated No. 9 in the world by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), No. 23 by the World Boxing Council (WBC). He tuned up for this fight on Feb. 25 by stopping Martinez in three rounds at Bally’s.
Taylor, 33, also has not lost since fighting Wilson, earning decisions over Rayshawn Myers, of Cleveland, OH; Kamarah Pasley, of Philadelphia, PA; Mike Alderete, of Albuquerque, NM, and Gary Gomez, of Salt Lake City, UT. A pro less than four years, Taylor is 20-1-2, 7 K0s. and rated No. 33 by the WBC. His last fight was Nov. 23, 2010, in Pittsburgh, PA, when he out-pointed Gomez over eight rounds. Taylor suffered his only pro loss in 2009 when Leo Bercier, of Great Falls, MT, out-pointed him in Campbell, OH. Taylor avenged the loss three months later, also on points, in Johnstown, PA.
There are no common foes.
Taylor has gone eight rounds on three different occasions. Wilson has gone 12 rounds twice.
ABOUT APRIL 14 The Wilson-Taylor fight tops a seven-bout card at Bally’s Atlantic City. First fight is 7.30 pm. Tickets priced at $50 and $75 are on sale at the offices of Peltz Boxing (215-765-0922) and all Ticketmaster outlets (800-745-3000). Tickets also are on sale at www.peltzboxing.com and www.ticketmaster.com . Gofightlive.tv will televise the card on the internet. The card is being promoted by Peltz Boxing Promotions, Inc., in association with Bally’s Atlantic City.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
