James Shuler of 1986 vs. Kelly Pavlik now. Remember, James Shuler was 6-1. The reason I ask this is because Hearns knocked out Shuler when James was 21-0 in 1986. Could Kelly beat Shuler. Shuler was a top fighter then.
I think James was still pretty unproven in top world claSS, but he did show good potential, so we dont know if "Black Gold" was that good or fools gold, ? Kelly has actually beaten Top class opponents in Taylor and Miranda, so would seem to the more confirmed top class performer, When Hearns took out James he used a big streight right hand, Kelly Pavlik has a good one, so i doubt he would find james as quick as did hearns, but somewhere around the half way stage i think he would, I think it might look like Kelly's fist fight with Taylor, - Without James getting Kelly in similar trouble ! Kelly Pavlik for me by stoppage circa 7th- 8th round.
Nice pick. I have to agree. James was good and the Hearns fight made him look worse than he was. At the time he had some nice wins and he was NABF champ beating another contender James Kinchen. But I agree Kelly's power would probably prevail. Shuler also had the misfortune of having to fight Hearns when Tommy was coming off his fight with Hagler and he was totally motivated.
