Edison Miranda, the Columbian Middlweight with freightening power in both hands, called Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor the "greatest junior middleweight in the world" a not so subtle jibe at Taylor's penchant for fighting smaller opponents. Saturday night at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Taylor resumes that habit by taking on 154-titlist Corey Spinks.

On his rise to the top, Taylor feasted on junior middles like Alex Bunema and Raul Marquez; after two questionable wins over the legendary Bernard Hopkins, Taylor the 160-pound champ has waged battles with Winky Wright and Kassim Ouma, both junior middles moving up in weight class. Before signing to fight Spinks, a match with Contender champion Sergio Mora fell through--Mora is also a natural 154-pounder. Taylor's manager Lou Dibella has defended Taylor by saying he is fighting the best out there, and fighting Hopkins (twice) and Wright back-to-back is nothing to sneeze at. Still, Taylor's wins over elite competition--Hopkins and Wright--were both mired in controversy, and his convincing decision against Ouma only served to put Ouma's heart on display while exposing Taylor's deficiencies as a boxer.

Jermain Taylor, 26-0-1 (17), is a tremendous athlete and a gentleman. He is not Carlos Monzon, Marvin Hagler, or even Bernard Hopkins. His ability to retain the Ring magazine undisputed title is due to his sheer size, youth, and athleticism, not extraordinary boxing skills. A technical master he is not. His previously lauded jab is in danger of turning into a myth. But Taylor deserves credit; there was a reason B-Hop foight so cautiously against Taylor. And when Hopkins turned up the heat a little in the rematch, so did Taylor. Taylor is no walkover, but it is true that he has not been tested by a legitimate middleweight since taking the title from Hopkins.

Enter Corey Spinks, 36-3 (11). A legitimate middleweight he is not. Making matters worse, he is friends with Taylor, which means the match could resemble the dull, excruciating affair that was Hasim Rahman-Monte Barrett two years back, in which the two friends barely touched each other. Also, Spinks is not a junior middle moving up to 160 but a welterweight who fought only twice at 154.

Team Taylor, in chosing Spinks as an opponent, does not appear to be concerned with soothing critics, but Spinks is still a mildly interesting opponent nonetheless. Spinks outboxed the hard-hitting Ricardo Mayorga while "El Matador" was still in his prime (that is to say, before he was decimated by Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya), taking the welterweight title Mayorga won from Vernon Forrest. The "Next Generation" also outboxed Zab Judah before being stopped in their rematch. And at 154, Spinks boxed masterfully against Roman Karmazin and Rodney Jones in his last two fights. Spinks is no crowd pleaser, and his habit of crying like a bitch after winning alphabet trinkets does not endear himself to the anyone, but he is both faster and a better boxer than Taylor. Then again, so was Wright. The only exception is that Spinks does not hit as hard as the light-hitting southpaw from St. Petersburg, which handicaps his chances of winning even more.

Spinks is an underdog, but not a live underdog. If Taylor beats him--as he should--the public will be clamoring for Taylor to act like a true middleweight champion and defend against a more ominous opponent, such as Miranda or Kelly Pavlik. Then we will see whether or not Taylor is tailor-made for the 160-pound throne. Until then, the middleweight king will continue to eschew the main course, content to be feasting on appetizers.

Prediction: Taylor by decision