I like Pavliks attitude. He is a great techincal boxer, and he is a hard worker and that offsets some of his flaws. Boxing needs a hard worker like him. Who ever beats him is in for a long night. Pavlik is a spoiler
Glad to see people are giving both fighters their just dues. Taylor fought the best fight he could against Pavlik with a very good game plan that he actually stuck too and Pavlik still beat him. I am glad this unlikely scenario (Pavlik UD Taylor) came to pass as it says a lot about both fighters. If Pavlik would have KO'd Taylor, everyone would have really jumped on Taylor as being over-rated and Pavlik as proving nothing more for himself. Instead we can see that Pavlik can out box a world class boxer and Taylor will be extremely tough at SMW if he comes out with the same mental attitude and intelligence in which he fought this fight. All the fans of other middle weights out there better hope their guy doesn't fight Pavlik.
Welcome to the club. I became a fan after the Miranda fight. I thought he was a nobody up until that fight. I think it's easier to really respect a who who you initially doubted but through time, this guy FORCES you to respect him. It's really going to take someone really special to beat this guy.
\ Pavlik is an upper echelon fighter, athletic ability or not. He has great timing. You can't teach that. He is still flawed, but there aren't any great pure boxers at 160 except Winky, whom I don't think Pavik will fight. At 168, Kelly has some great challenges and could make some good money. His body looks like it can go up to 175 and still be very strong.
I was very impressed with Pavlik's second win over Taylor because I knew Taylor would give his all. There were questions about Pavlik's chin and stamina, people were constantly bringing up the knock down from the first fight and saying that he had a glass chin. Pavlik answered those questions with a solid performance.
If your back is against the ropes with Pavlik you are in trouble....the thudding body shots will follow. A Forrest fight would be good for Pavlik....very competive and Pavlik will learn even more and become a better fighter. i think Pavlik may drop Forrest and win a close decision.
Pavlik is good *no doubt* but I fear some people are hyping him up slightly too much. When he gets his first loss -- and he will -- I'd hate to see people start the usual "he was over rated" type ****. With some of the comments in this thread you could be forgiven for thinking it's the second coming of Ali. Easy now. :nono
atsch You remind me of my cousin. He's the type of dude that if you bought a brand new car, instead of being like "Damn!! nice car", he'll crawl up underneath to try to find something wrong. So he can be the first one in line to say "I told you so".:verysad
I like to be objective and I'd like to see Pavlik grow as a fighter without being over hyped. It's not a good thing. Put it this way -- many people here are suggesting Kelly would lose to Kessler. Yet Kessler doesn't get the props he deserves. So what makes him more special than Kessler? I think Kessler would win, as would Calzaghe if (god forbid) they ever face each other. Kelly is young and still has a way to go before I'd be confident that he is worth as much praise as he is getting at this moment.
I hate to say this but the people who questioned Pavlik's chin or stamina simply did not take the time to follow Pavlik closely enough. Pavlik has a great chin. He took Miranda's shots and didn't go down. He took flush shots from Pavlik and got back up and had his legs under him in 30 seconds. His work rate is amazing. He is a supremely conditioned athlete. I don't know who these people were that questioned his chin or stamina but they don't know what they are talking about.
Thats the problem for Kelly....he is the best around at 160 and will probably clean it out, but at 168 there is too much talent for him to clean it out and will his fans stick with him? I know I will, but im sure Pav will be dealt tons of **** on the forums after his first loss
He's a couple of pounds away from 168, for Christs sake! He could make the weight with ease. He just fought Taylor at 166. I could have a **** and go from 168 to 166! All I'm saying is let's not set ourselves up for a disappoinment. Let Kelly grow a little bit and get off his Jock for a minute. Cheers.