Well there is a rematch clause so as long as JT wants it, we will probably see it early in 08 as both guys next fight.
if manny steward is still taylors trainer after this fight, i will assume it is never happening. manny will try to talk some sense into his charge. taylor on the other hand will still have strong emotions (as any defeated fighter would). but! the problem is, and i think manny and maybe deep down even taylor will come to realise, is that he threw everyting but the kitchen sink at pavlik, and he couldn't put him away. i lost count of how many power shots taylor threw his whole body weight into, but ultimately kelly recovered quickly and even attempted to walk taylor down despite being hurt. it would be different if taylor lost because the ref waved the fight off if taylor was just standing up, and reasonably clear headed. or if he gassed out so bad through interruputed training camp. or if he hurt his opponent everytime he landed. or if he was outclassing his opponent, and it was a kind of "closed eyes and pray lucky punch" that knocked him out. however, the fact is none of those things happened. pavlik took a volley of power shots then decided to be a smart ass and not cover up, taking even more punishment which sent him down. however even when he went down he was still aware of his surroundings. when taylor went down. he was half unconcious. hence why smoger waved it off after counting to two. taylor lost by KTFO. and that's hard to avenge when you also lost the boxing match and were getting slowly dismantled over the previous rounds. also because pavlik for the most part was winning the boxing match and definately the jabbing contest, it would be really hard to set up a logical plan for a rematch win. when your opponent outboxed you, survived your best shots, dismantled you, then knocked you the **** out. how on earth are you gonna get the confidence to do better next time? and the extra weight is only going to make pavlik more devastating, while slowing taylor down more.
I hope there isn't. I really hate rematch clauses, they really seem to slow down progress within the division. Seriously, how long did it take before the last middleweight champ (ie - Taylor) fought an up and comer who was new and a deserving challenger? A couple years: fought B Hop again (rematch) then Winky (who was deserving but not an up and comer by any means) then Ouma then Stinks Then finally, Pavlik. I like to see new guys get their shot, not the ****ing merry-go-round of "elite" fighters that we're constantly exposed to.
I thought Taylor should've boxed more and use his naturally faster hands to box from the outside more. That doesn't mean he had to run all fight long but pick his spots a little better because he was able to touch Pavlik. Going toe to toe with Pavlik played right into Pavlik's hands. That is exactly what he wanted. It would've been more wise to box him a little and pick his spots. I take nothing away from Pavlik. He surprised me. He is the real deal. I thought he wasn't. But i felt had Taylor boxed more and used his natural talent more, he would've avoided the big hits he kept taking.
I think in Taylors mind he thinks if only he had shot uppercuts up the middle in the second round he would have stopped Pavlik. I say a rematch is not out of the question...either way both fighters came close to stopping the other. Taylor did hurt Pavlik he just didn't finish him. So it makes sense the next fight could go either way. Taylor need to switch his game plan. This will either break him mentally or fire him up like never before...It was a great fight with no dull moments...
