Has Pavlik ever faced a guy who didnt just stand in front of him??

There are a lot of folks basing their prediction simply on two facts:

1)pavlik walked through big hardpunching miranda.

2) Taylor looked awkward/crappy vs lighthitting spinks.

So they put one and two together and they say:

YO PAVLIK GONNA KILL THIS GUY!!!

i have been hearing this all week from my local "boxing experts"!

Well, this may work at your average schoolyard brawl, but in boxing.......NO!


first off, i agree. taylor looked bad vs both spinks and winkey.

but tell me: who ever looked great vs spinks or wright???

both are awkward, shifty, worldclass southpaws.......in other words: if i were to pick two fighters that taylor would look bad against, i dont think there would be a better pick than these two!

Pavlik on the other hands has only faced one top ten contender in miranda.
and miranda stood straight in front of him.........made to bring out the very best in pavlik.

and the only other halfway recognizable names on kellys record, zentuche, mckart and zuniga, are straightforward guys.
nothing slick, just nice broad targets there to be hit.

taylormade for kelly to look a million dollars!

so be carefull what you base your prediction on!!

Taylor is faster, more athletic and more versatile..........simply something that kelly has never seen before.

 

ouma was a short southpaw who is faster than pavlik.

kelly has been dropped by zuniga.

taylor has faced two top pound for pound guys. kelly.......

 

yes, i have seen zuniga. first time when he couldnt even drop jr. middle china chin daniel santos. still, a tough, solid fringe contender, but nothing special.

why was winky chosen?? he had beaten trinidad and the public (see ring magazine) forced it.

spinks and ouma?? ****in beats me!!! stupid matchmaking, i would have never picked either one. NO win situatians to start with.

as for the ouma fight: yeah, he should have been ashamed for that performance.
but as you said: fighting a short, fast southpaw punching like crazy aint exactly an easy assingment!!!
punching down never is.

but im not gonna say taylor is perfect. but he is the more gifted and far more tested guy.

and its not like kelly is mr. perfect. he has been dropped a couple of times by lesser fighters than taylor.
he squares up infront of his opponents. and he appears underprepared competionwise.

sure kelly is the guy with power and physique. but if you look in the history books, in such fights, its guys like taylor that usually win this.

 

yes, thats pavliks big chance.

 

:good thats the way i see it.