Michael Nunn vs Kelly Pavlik - 160

We're talking about pre-Toney here, the fighter that sparked Kalamby and outclassed Tate. He was even taller than Kelly at 6'3, and had above average power at 160.

From what I've seen of Nunn, he was most effective on the outside where he could utilise his size advantage. Could flurry with 3-4 punch combinations with precision, and had above average power in his left hand.

Kelly Pavlik is also a good outside fighter, tall, but would be fighting Nunn as the smaller of the two. Great power, but hasn't shown a Plan B at this point in his career, and can be troubed with lateral movement.

Nunn had great footwork and balance, and would probably box Pavlik's head off using lateral movement just as hopkins did. Pavlik would be the biggest puncher Nunn faced, but Pavlik has been hurt badly by lesser punchers than Nunn, who could also take a good shot. Before the stoppage came, all three judges had Nunn ahead comfortably in his fight with Toney.

I think Nunn stops Pavlik late, having dominated him for most of the fight.

 

Nunn was fabulous and deserves a lot more recognition than he appears to get on this forum. He would beat Pavlik fairly easily, and could and "should" have gone on to be one of the best Middleweights ever.

The Toney fight was shocking. I've watched it recently and although Toney did come on near the end, he still needed the knockout to win the fight on the judges scorecards. In hindsight, it wasn't as big of an upset as it was made out to me. Toney was outstanding.

 

Because styles make fights, and Nunn didn't really realise his full potential.

 

Pavlik couldn't even hit Hopkins, how in hell does he get near a prime Nunn? Power is void if you cannot hit the target.

 

You remember perfectly.

Although Nunn was never behind in the Toney fight, he took some solid shots before eventually getting put to the canvas with a left hook from hell.

The only way Pavlik beats Nunn is by landing big. He can't oubox him.

 

Upon looking into Michael Nunn, as a boxer and as a person, I've really became quite fond of him. He is so humble, and doesn't feel sorry for himself at all, despite recieving a prison sentence for 25 years for drug related issues. Not only do I think that is a ridicliously long sentence, but I wouldn't have blamed Nunn for feeling sorry for himself. He was beautiful, in every way. He boxed beautiful, he looked beautiful, he spoke beautifully. He really did look like a second coming of Sugar Ray. He was on top of the world.

Truely devastating how it all turned out for him, and I draw comparisons with the Chavez/Taylor fight. Of course, Chavez never was competitive in that fight, and Toney was coming on in the last few rounds. But it isn't inconcievable to speculate, and wonder how things would have been had that left hook missed by an inch, and Nunn would have coasted out the decision. Do I think he turns to drugs and shits everything down the drain? I'm not sure, but Nunn worked hard for 11 rounds, and one shot ended everything. Credit to Toney, it was no injustice, just a little upsetting from my point of view.