Pavlik going 12 rounds with Taylor.........

Is the best thing that could possibly happen to him in his career. I think it'll pay huge dividends, and only prove to benefit him in his upcoming fights. Whilst KO's are great, and fun to watch, it's essential that champion fighters prove they can go a hard 12 rounds I.E. Pavlik and his 2nd fight with Taylor.

Not just going 12 hard rounds, but with a quality fighter like Taylor. It'll only instill that confidence in Kelly. For the record, Taylor is a better boxer than Abraham, with more athletic ability, so outside of a lucky punch, I don't see how Abraham can/will beat Pavlik.

Even though Kelly Pavlik got the KO against Taylor in their first duel, did anyone see any improvements in Pavlik's game the 2nd time around?

 

For those of you who have seen all (or most) of Pavlik's fights; Has he ever been backed up? If so, how did he respond?

Basically he's a pressure fighter, with a solid jab, great right hand, who gets good leverage on his punches, is consistent.......But basic. Yes?

 

One thing I like about Pavlik is his consistency, and his foundation is always behind the jab.

I wonder if he'll be able to adapt if forced to fight going backwards - if and when that ever happens. I also wonder how he'll fare against someone who can take the fight to him on the inside, and be able to stay there (With Pavlik's rangy body).

I'd like to see Pavlik go to the body more. When he has went to the body, he gets good results. I'd also like to see more punch creativity from him i.e. more left hooks especially.

I'm curious to see if he has a plan B. Some adaptibility? :think

 

That's a good point. In the rematch with Pavlik, Taylor, having already seen Pavlik's arsenal knew what to watch out for, and that was the jab and Pavlik's right hand. Pavlik was successful because he grinded away, and was so consistent with his monotonous attack. Pavlik, in the rematch didn't get the KO in the end, imo, because he lacks punch creativity. With Taylor already seeing everything Kelly had in their first fight; compare the big shots and combinations Taylor landed on Pavlik/Vice-versa. Taylor has better punch creativity, and hence him landing the cleaner blows imo - although, admittedly, he lost because he wasn't as consistent as Pavlik.

With Pavlik's rise up the ranks, he's been so successful with that 1-2, he hasn't been forced to use other weapons - there will be a point in time where he'll need to mix it up better in order for him to take his opponent out, or risk being outboxed by superior boxers. In Pavlik's 2nd fight with Taylor, he wasn't landing as many big blows, because Taylor knew all he had to do was avoid the follow up right hand (easier said than done, but for the most part, he managed to do that). I am confident enough to say; If Pavlik had a wider arsenal, like going to the body, mixing in lead rights, jab-left hooks, inside uppercuts, he would have got Taylor out of there.

Punching through his opponents gaurd isn't going to be the 'tell all, be all' in his success. This is fine with him fighting at middleweight, where he's much bigger than his competition, and physically stronger, but once he moves up in weight, he'll either be forced to mix it up with more punch creativity, exhibit adaptibility, or be outboxed, or knocked out......And yes, backed up.

The moral of the story is.....Pavlik would be much more dangerous than he already is, if he mixed it up a little bit. The monotonous 1-2 is not going to work against every opponent, at least the ones who have decent defense.