Who's a top prospect, contendor, or even belt holder that you are not really sold on yet. For me it would be edwiin valero. I downloaded a bunch of his fights and all I see is a wild swinger who is in love with his power and will be either outboxed or beaten up when he steps up his comp.
I agree with the choice of Valero. I'm also not completely sold on how much Shane Mosley has left. He did beat a top 10 contender in Collazo, but still.....I dunno if he has enough left to take on the likes of Cotto and Mayweather.
I don't think much of Sturm's ability to handle pressure, as shown from the two Castillejo fights that were competitive, so I'd take Pavlik by KO as Sturm has not a glass jaw, but a dentable one and Pavlik has undeniable punching power. I actually like Abraham's chances, he moves well and puts together more accurate combinations that would have more effect on Pavlik than Miranda was able to do. Truthfully, I'd give Abraham/Pavlik one of the only real 50/50 fight monikers, everything else has a favourite. I don't know how long Pavlik will stay at MW though, if he moves to SMW I feel he will be outgunned and not because he's unskilled, but because the bigger the guys get the harder they hit as you can say and Pavlik is by no means a defensive fighter. I am not sold on Pavlik, he's a class fighter but I'm not sure if he's a real championship level fighter, if you know what I mean. That being said, he's a well spoken nice guy, so I wish him all of the success in the world.
I am taking Pavlik over Taylor based on the fact that I don't think Taylor is improving (he has the talent) like he should be under Steward. I don't think they work well together. And that spells doom in a fight like this....Why does Taylor still keep his left so low and his stance so wide? Anyways.....don't think Pavlik should tangle with Abraham yet.
That's a very good point. Emanuel has helped to improve fighters such as Taylor (tall, athletic, rangy, with good jabs). However, I have yet to see him show any improvements since they have been working together, and you said it best...they don't work well together.