they both over rated.... jermain taylor had no toughness when things started getting hard... he would panic kelly pavlik is just so str8 forward
There are a lot of things you could say about JT but to say he doesn't have toughness just isn't one of them. He went against the best of the time: Hopkins II, Corey Spinks, Pavlik II, Winky Wright, Froch, AA to name a few. I'm not saying he's the best thing going but he toughed out two BHop fights and the Winky Wright fight for sure, but his stamina especially after leaving Pat Burns was suspect.
bhop, cory spins, winky wright, couldn't crack for ****.... he was brave but not mentally tough... there is a big difference any idiot can jump back in the ring with someone who beat you the **** up.... doesn't make you tough.. it makes you brave... being mentally tough & strong means that when your opponent starts to turn up hte heat in the kitchen you don't mentally break down.... which is what happens to jermain taylor
Both fights were good, the first one was amazing. I thought it was 50/50 and basically it turned out to be. You wonder how Jermain's career might have gone had he finished Pavlik in the 2nd round. I never thought JT was a PfP fighter just like I never thought Pavlik as a PfP fighter, but they were both world class and deserve total respect. My hope is Taylor will retire or at least go in soft, while I think Pavlik still has something left in the tank.
Funny thing about that 2nd round is that Pavlik said he wasn't sure he was going to make it out of the round, but after he did he knew Taylor couldn't beat him.
Taylor never striked me as a great fighter. He seemed to be in it for the money and lacked a killer mentality. Steward really struggled to get him to train hard and was handled on more than a few sparring sessions by a very young Andy Lee. Dibella brought him up against some really soft opponents before Hopkins, then JMW's there after. Too bad, for all that talent, he could've been a real monster.
i must have watched the first fight at least 10 times...pavlik laid a beating on taylor, i remember he hit him in his jaw so hard that it made his peck jump lolol...i think taylor may have edged the second fight by a round or two but i was drunk.
bhop is one of the craftiest guys of this generation. regardless of how you feel about the outcomes of both fights, jermain gave the old fox hell twice and came out on top. also, winky wright was one year removed from embarassing tito...from standing in the same ring with tito with a smile on his face saying how easy that was. jermain fought him to a draw. if all top fighters had the sack to get into the ring w/ the quantity of quality opposition taylor did, then a we'd have a lot of "overrated fighters."