One of the fights of the year in 2007 was Kelly Pavlik's heroic comeback win against world middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. The two are set to duke it out again at the MGM Grand on HBO February 16th.
I gave Taylor a lot of credit for the last fight. I didn't think he would do as well as he did. In this fight, I'll be shocked if he is competitive at all. The good thing about this fight is that if by some off-chance Taylor lasts the whole fight, the judges can't screw Pavlik out of his title.
Once again, I give Taylor a ton of credit for coming ready to fight and giving Pavlik fits once again. Pavlik won the fight, but it was actually closer than the scores indicated (a Taylor first!) and Taylor made him work for the entire 12 rounds (a Pavlik first!). Now it's time for Pavlik to move on. I think John Duddy is next.
I didn't see the fight, but from what I've read, Pavlik looked terrible? He was slow? I've read a majority of people think Taylor got jobbed, big time in the fight. I'll definitely check it out soon and drop my opinion.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ Feb 17 2008, 12:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I didn't see the fight, but from what I've read, Pavlik looked terrible? He was slow? I've read a majority of people think Taylor got jobbed, big time in the fight. I'll definitely check it out soon and drop my opinion.</div> Taylor wasn't busy enough to get jobbed. He was going backwards the whole fight. Pavlik threw and landed a lot more punches. However, Taylor clearly had much better handspeed and his defense was an upgrade over what you usually see from him. The higher weight didn't seem to do Pavlik any favors. Definitely not a screwjob, but it was a close fight. I had it 116-112 Pavlik, but would not argue with someone who had it 115-113 Taylor. Any more than that I think is stretching it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ Feb 17 2008, 01:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Did Taylor land the better punches?</div> He doesn't punch as hard, but he landed the cleaner shots. It's a preference thing. Pavlik's jab caused a lot of damage, though.
Yeah, Taylor's pretty feather-fisted, but I was reading he landed the cleaner punches and both were bleeding from the nose., but Pavlik was bleeding a little more profusely. I'm just going to have to watch the fight and score it myself.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ Feb 17 2008, 02:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yeah, Taylor's pretty feather-fisted, but I was reading he landed the cleaner punches and both were bleeding from the nose., but Pavlik was bleeding a little more profusely. I'm just going to have to watch the fight and score it myself.</div> If you are a Taylor fan, you can definitely see him as the winner. I never score fights for Taylor. If I were the only judge he would now have six losses. I just do not like his style. However, I really respect his willingness to fight the best competition and he has handled himself with a lot of class and dignity over the last year. He really showed a lot in both Pavlik fights. Especially tonight. Most guys would not do well after suffering a first loss on a brutal knockout. Taylor actually improved.
