~ Jermain Taylor ~

First of all, I would like to give my credit to Jermain Taylor for coming out guns blazing against a heavy puncher, it was an awesome fight, no doubt.
Second, I think there was a mutual agreement between Manny and Jermain to fight like this, to basically knock Pavlik's head off, there ain't nothing bad about that but Jermain didn't use his experience, his athletic ability to BOX Pavlik, he wanted to go for the kill way too early.
Here's a similarity, Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson 1959. Patterson comes out in shape, thinking he's going to knock Ingemar out, to his surprise he gets tagged and knocked out himself, in brutal fashion.
Floyd Patterson then went undergound to renew his skills and his mental strenght, and he came back to be the first fighter ever to recapture the heavyweight title, in extremely fine fashion.
The question now ofcourse is, is Jermain Taylor able to pull a Floyd Patterson on Kelly Pavlik? I really do think so, but Jermain needs to get back to the drawing board, he's a very athletic, talented phenomenom in boxing. There was an immediate rematch clause in the build up to this fight, and now people say nah uh, there ain't no need for a rematch, I strongly disagree... Jermain has been the champion for quite some time, he's had some lacklustre performances lately, but we all know what he's capable of when he sets his feet and goes to work, he's got ATG ability.
Jermain needs a rematch, for his confidence, for his own best.. damn, even for his career to not fall into pieces. Just like Patterson needed in '59 to come back and be the first heavyweight ever to recapture the heavyweight title!

If there's a rematch, this will be my prediction: Jermaine Taylor UD.

 

I do hope for Jermain's career that he gets the rematch immediately, there are guys out there that can beat Kelly, obviously.
Jermain needs to get rid of his mental ghosts, and the only way he can do it is to beat Kelly, then I think we will see a totally different fighter in Jermain.