Even though both fighters weighed in at 164lbs, giving them less of a struggle to make the MW limit, I still thought Pavlik was massive for the weight. Kelly not only has height for a MW, but he also has width. His back is huge for the weight. I thought he looked much bigger than Taylor? This time next year, Pavlik will not be able to make MW. Damn, I don't even think he would be small for LHW. Eventually, I think he'll grow into the 175lbs weight class.
tbh I thought Taylor looked the bigger man in there, not quite as tall, but much broader across the shoulders and back and thicker in general. Taylor could go to 175 no probs, imo that would be a better weight than 168 for him.
pavlik is lean too. taylor could make middleweight easier if he didn't bulk up as much. his biceps and pecs etc are pumped. pavlik on the other hand looks bony and skinny. if he tried to put on muscle like taylor, he would find himself in the 168 division already, possibly lightheavy. look at bernard hopkins. made 160 easy enough but looked lean. once he moved to lightheavy he looked healthy and solid, and bernard is smaller than taylor who is smaller than pavlik. i think pavlik will defend his belts for 1 year or possibly 18 months. that would be about 4-5 defenses. there is simply no one big enough or tough enough to beat him at the moment. i mean, everyone thought taylor would be hard to beat due to size alone. well pavlik came along and rewrote the size that can compete at that level at 160. i believe is someone came along bigger than pavlik, they would not be able to beat him simply by being too big for middleweight. they would be starving, or like paul williams, simply too skinny to punch with any respectable power for the division. win or lose i think pavlik will go to super middle then retire. i can't see him moving up two divisons unless he really wants to hang around for another 6-8 years.
Size is not what you all think it is. Look at Duran nearly drawing with Hagler, and all the other guys he beat above lightweight.
Pavlik is not lean. He is just skinny. All tall skinny guys hit hard. On top of it, Pavlik is not the type of guy who puts on muscle mass very easy. His frame won't let him.
