I miss the days when Pavlik was lineal middleweight champ

I was a fan of Kelly Pavlik , he was fearless .

 

He was massively over-rated, just like Glass Jaw Taylor.

The division was weak when he got to the top.

 

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Comparing mw division skillwise from the last 14 years I put GGG number 1. If I compare best wins I put Taylor number 1 just because of Winky and Hopkins.

Skillwise
1.GGG
2.Martinez
3.Pavlik
4.Abraham
5.Sturm
6.Taylor

Resume wise (+/-)

1.Taylor (+wins over Winky and Hopkins, - number of defences, - the way he has taken those wins)
2.Martinez (+ the way he has taken those wins, + wins over Pavlik, Chavez jr., - number of defences)
3.GGG (+number of defences, the way he has taken those wins, - no name opponents)
4.Sturm (+number of defences, + win over Oscar, - fought almost entirely in Germany)
5.Abraham (+number of defences, -quality of opponents, fought almost entirely in Germany)
6. Pavlik (+ 2 wins over Taylor, - number of defences)

 

GGG vs. Taylor : Taylor is flatfooted fighter with better than average handspeed but average chin and stamina. GGG has much better footwork and boxing IQ to box Taylor ears off but he has also power to Ko Taylor. KO7

GGG vs. Martinez: Martinez has excellent handspeed but lacks boxing technique and footwork. Martinez power is better than average and could earn GGG respect and make the fight go to 12 rd. In the end GGG overall skillset is too much for Martinez. UD/KO8

GGG vs. Pavlik: Pavlik hits hard and can take a punch. GGG skills and footwork could take his power away (like Hopkins did). GGG takes clear UD but gives toughest test for GGG.

GGG vs. Sturm: Sturms had really good jab and turtle defence but didn´t like to get hit (see Castillo vs. Sturm). GGG would brake him down. KO5.

GGG vs. Abraham: Abraham has power and can take a hit but that´s about it. GGG wins clear UD/KO10.

But because the nature of the sport, anything can happen in the ring - Pavlik, Abraham and Martinez have power to hurt GGG.

 

IMO division was stronger in 2007 than nowdays but the fact that the top dogs Sturm, Abraham and Pavlik never fought each other nullify the difference.

MW division 2007:
Pavlik(wins over Taylor and Miranda), Abraham(wins over Gevor and Miranda), Taylor(zero wins against top MW), Sturm (wins over Castillo and Gevor), Castillo(win against Sturm), Gevor(win over Asikainen), Asikainen(win over Sylvester), Sylvester(win over Asikainen), Miranda(Who did he beat?), Winky(He was ranked but he didn´t fight anyone at the time).

MW division 2014:
GGG(Win over Macklin and Geale), Quillin(won´t fight Koborov or GGG), Jacobs, Sturm(win over Macklin), Cotto(win over Martinez), Taylor, Macklin, Koborov, Geale, N´Dam, Lemiux, Martinez(win over Macklin).

Actually MW division 2014 looks promising - so far top 10 guys have not fought each other.

One really funny thing is that comparing these two years, Sturm has a strong case being the least protected fighter He has taken more top 10 guys than anyone. At the same time there is a strong general opinion that he is the most protected champ of this era.

 

he'd probably beat at least half of them right now.