Anybody notice this...

how many times has taylor genuinely impressed you in the ring? i mean really caught your eye.

 

this isnt A beats B. . . this is Pavlik crushing Miranda. If that demolition of a tough guy like Miranda doesnt impress you then nothing will.

 

His win over Joppy was good as was his KO of that Haitian cat.

Everyone looks bad against Hops . . .EVERYONE.

Taylor looked real good against Winky when he wasnt against the ropes, again I scored it for him 7-5.

He did look absolutely terrible against Stinks, no one can deny that - but thats just one bad performance.

He put up a helluva fight against Pavlik. This is one thing that bothers me about most boxing fans - just cause a guy loses to another good fighter, that makes him crap? This way of thinking leads to far to cautious boxers and boring fights.

 

Great post Brooklyn:deal I favor Pavlik by a KO also. I think Taylor is gonna come in with a solid game plan but once he gets hit solid a few times he'll go on autopilot and revert to his old self. He just does not seem to think on his feet too well, where as Pavlik does and learns his lessons well. That alone gives Pavlik a significant advantage from the first fight. The one thing that may save Taylor is the move up in weight may give him some more stamina, recovery capability, and possibly a little more chin strength. If this is true, and he boxes and moves well, he could get a fair decision. Of course that may go out the window if Pav. gains more advantage by moving up in weight. Fighting @ the higher weight is what intrigues me most about the match as how it effects the guys is unknown.

Last thing. I betted and backed Pavlik but I gained a lot of respect for Taylor in fight #1 and also the fact (though it may not be wise) to take the rematch immediatly.

 

Calzaghe will absolutly embarrass Hopkins and make him look his age. Wide UD for Calzaghe

 

Spot-on:good

Taylor has my respect. The man is a true fighter.

 

Pavlik crushed a Miranda who didn't fight back. This is either because a) all Pavlik's talk about his tactical edge, with Miranda being immobilized by forward motion was true, or b) something was up with Miranda that night. Either way, Pavlik certainly did not have to overcome any adversity or work very hard to do what he did. He pounded the living **** out of a guy who took a beating over several rounds but offered virtually NOTHING in the way of defense, or return fire. Don't dare try to inflate that win. If anything, Pavlik's wins over Zertuche is more impressive (although Zertuche himself is not as dangerous as a 100% forward-moving Miranda). His win over Taylor is most definitely more impressive, as even though Taylor is crap (mentally) Kelly did have to face adversity to pull out the win.

As for Miranda-Abraham, yeah it could have been stopped and declared a TKO win for Miranda. Fact is it didn't, and the win was no gift (although the decision to continue the fight may have been - though that's no discredit to him...he just played the hand dealt to him, and played it well). Up until that point it was close enough that it would have demanded a rematch, Abraham would have tightened his game up and not let himself get caught with Miranda's considerable power, and either stopped Miranda himself or won a VERY wide decision.

My point is, Miranda very nearly got a W over Abraham, the same way Taylor very nearly got a W over Pavlik. Does that mean Abraham and Pavlik aren't better than both (and that Abraham isn't better than Pavlik, who beat an unconscious version of Miranda)? No. It means boxing is unpredictable and anything can happen, and Miranda who is not on Abraham's level almost got a TKO victory over him, and Taylor who while a gifted athlete is a mental chump and not on the same level as an all-around fighter as Pavlik almost got a TKO victory over him. Not very difficult to understand, but not as simplistic as you try to make it by downplaying Abraham with your "he nearly lost to a guy Pavlik beat up" logic.