Doghouse Predictions; Taylor vs. Ouma
Compiled by Coyote Duran (Dec 9, 2006) Photo © HBO
Hey, Howlers! Coyote Duran here filling in as special guest ‘fight prediction compiling dude’ while ‘The Big Dog’ Benny Henderson Jr. is out of town. On HBO’s World Championship Boxing, fight fans will be treated to what should be a pretty entertaining night with a promising main event involving Jermain ‘Bad Intentions’ Taylor, 25-0-1 (17), making his third defense of his World Middleweight Championship against the tough Ugandan, former IBF junior middleweight titleholder, Kassim ‘The Dream’ Ouma, 25-2-1 (15) with 1 NC. The setting is The Alltel Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas. The time? 10 PM ET/7 PM PT/9 PM Central, Saturday night. In today’s edition of ‘Doghouse Decides’, read on to find out what our intrepid writers had to say about who they think will come out ahead in this potentially great showdown.

Benny Henderson Jr.: I think this is a mismatch but should provide some entertaining sparks for the Taylor fans. Ouma is a solid fighter, throws punches in bunches and stays on his opponents. Taylor has proven himself with the throw downs against ‘B-Hop’ and Winky. Although those were close fights, I don’t see this one going the distance. Being the bigger boxer, I can see Jermain winning this one with a knockout. So if I were throwing my money down for this one, I say
Ouma comes on strong in the beginning but is wore down quick with Taylor’s size and strength. Taylor wins this in front of his hometown fans with a seventh round TKO.

Jeremy Valdez: Ouma will throw a lot of punches but won't be strong enough for Taylor to respect his power. Taylor has gained a world of experience over his last few fights and will counter Ouma all night long. JT has enough power to earn a KO but I think this won goes the distance with Taylor winning by about 6 rounds. Taylor UD.
 
Ian Keogh: First off how does Ouma even qualify for this title shot? Zero fights at middleweight in the last 12 months let alone ever (he fought once at 155 so ok once). Typical sanctioning bodies looking for a fee. Anyways, on to the fight. Ouma is a very busy effective fighter and is as tough as they come but he's giving away nearly every advantage to Taylor. Despite his high volume of punching Ouma isn't a big puncher and will be even less the puncher at middleweight. Taylor might feel some early pressure but his size, strength and punching power will lead him to a mid to late rounds stoppage over the game but outgunned Ouma. Taylor TKO 8 is my pick. Hopefully Ouma doesn't take to much punishment and returns to his more natural 154 lbs.

Matt DeGonzaque: Ouma was one of the best fighters at 154lbs, despite being much smaller than most of the top contenders at the weight, and will give pretty much every fighter at or around his weight class a run for their money. But he may have bit of more than he can handle this time around. He is going up in weight to face Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, who is a huge middleweight. Ouma is a good fighter, but I don’t think his work rate and skill will be able to hold up against the champ's size, will, power and aggression. Ouma should be going down in weight instead of up. Taylor by mid round stoppage.

Vikram Birring: Kassim Ouma has a life story which would be a Hollywood hit, he was kidnapped as a child in Uganda and served as a military soldier, only to escape and become world champion boxer in the United States. Is that enough to defeat middleweight king Jermain Taylor? Possibly, but most likely not. Taylor is bigger, stronger, and faster. Ouma will never stop trying, but Taylor may just be too much for the smaller man. Taylor by unanimous decision.

Gabriel Montoya: This is a better match up than many think. Ouma does not bring power but he does bring accuracy, volume punching, a southpaw style and excellent counterpunching. Taylor, the middleweight champ and work in progress brings his speed, powerful jab and right hand as well as an ability to escape close fights with the win or draw. This is supposed to be a ‘Taylor-made’ opponent for Taylor but I think Team Taylor may have picked the wrong foil in Ouma. The ‘X-Factors’ that Ouma brings to the table are a tenacity born out of war-torn necessity and the fact that he has tasted defeat once before. While many dismissed the defeat because Ouma was sick with the flu coming in to his fight with Roman Karmazin, there were also whispers that Ouma had begun slacking off in camp leading up to that showdown. Ouma, by all accounts, has fixed his motivational problems and is now a very determined and focused fighter. Taylor, by Manny Steward's account, has begun to resemble a veteran fighter and is now beginning to do the ‘little things’ in the ring that it takes to be a champion. I think this one goes the distance in surprisingly competitive fashion. I'll take Taylor by UD but not without his struggles with Ouma's constant onslaught.

Julian Kasdin: Jermain Taylor vs. Kassim Ouma is an entertaining match but not a competitive one.  Kassim Ouma is a likeable guy; hard working and tough, but he is a smallish super welterweight.  On the flip side, Jermain Taylor is a likeable hard working guy but he is a large middleweight. Not only is Taylor much larger than Ouma but Ouma was not a one-punch fighter at 154.  He will not have the power to bother Taylor at 160 nor will he have the defense to trouble Taylor. Jermain Taylor will just be too much for a game Ouma. Look for JT to end this within seven rounds.

Dan Horgan: Taylor KO 9

Coyote Duran: It isn’t unreasonable at all to see this fight as a mismatch because that’s exactly how it looks on paper. With obvious size and reach disparities, Jermain Taylor has what looks like the big advantage walking into Saturday night’s main event but let’s not discount Kassim Ouma too quickly. What Ouma lacks in size, he makes up for in elusiveness and punch output. It wouldn’t be a stretch to believe that Ouma can use that output to earn the respect of the judges as well as Taylor en route to a surprise decision win but with that Taylor reach comes that Taylor jab and it’s a killer. If Taylor stays active at a consistent pace and throws a good minimum of jabs, setting up some inspired combos, he can make that size and reach make his money come fight night. I see The Ring Magazine’s World Middleweight Champion beating down Ouma to a KO victory in ten rounds.


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