Taylor eager to face Pavlik again after getting KO’d

Let’s get ready to rematch
Taylor eager to face Pavlik again after getting KO’d

BY CHRIS GIVENS ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Jermain Taylor has not seen the last of Kelly Pavlik.

Whether that is a good thing for Little Rock’s Taylor is a question that will be debated from now until the contractually obligated rematch takes place.

No one from either camp is debating, however, the fact that Taylor and Pavlik put on one of the best middleweight fights in recent memory.

Pavlik knocked out Taylor with a devastating flurry of punches in the corner in the seventh round of their middleweight championship fight Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall.

This sudden and explosive end to Taylor’s middleweight reign came after Taylor, who had never been knocked down as a pro, floored Pavlik with a powerful combination of his own in the second round.

Fast-paced and action-packed rounds of boxing took place between the knockdowns, giving 10,127 people at Boardwalk Hall and a national HBO audience their money’s worth. It was the kind of fight that had boxing fans cheering, regardless of which fighter they favored.

Bob Arum, Pavlik’s promoter, and Emanuel Steward, Taylor’s trainer, have more than 80 years of combined boxing experience between them. Both were involved in the legendary Thomas Hearns-Marvin Hagler middleweight title fight in 1985, which is the standard-bearer for judging any great middleweight fight.

“This is one of the best middleweight fights I’ve ever seen,” Arum said. “It runs second to Hagler-Hearns, but other than that, I can’t think of a better middleweight fight.”

“Jermain prepared well, Kelly prepared well, and they gave us a tremendous, great fight,” Steward said. “That’s one of the greatest fights I’ve ever seen. To be a great fighter you have to have great heart, like Ali, Frazier, Hearns, Hagler, and both Jermain and Kelly showed that heart.”

The good news for boxing fans is that heart will be on display again — the question is not if Taylor and Pavlik will rematch, but when.

There was a rematch clause written into the contract, and Arum said that if Taylor demands an immediate rematch, Pavlik will grant it to him.

However, Arum is hoping both f ighters take interim fights first.

“I think it would be silly to do an immediate rematch,” Arum said. “There’s no reason for that. Lou [DiBella, Taylor’s promoter] has indicated the same thing, let’s get some air under it. We will honor the commitment, though.”

Contrary to what Arum said, there are some very viable reasons for an immediate rematch, including the fact that Pavlik’s popularity has never been greater and it is the one fight in the middleweight division that the public wants to see.

DiBella wouldn’t directly address the timing of a rematch, and instead said he will talk it over this week with the Taylor camp.

Taylor did say he wants to fight Pavlik in his next bout and wants the rematch as soon as possible, no matter what the rest of his team says.

“I def initely want a rematch,” a composed Taylor said in the postfight news conference. “That’s what boxing is all about, bouncing back and coming back. Kelly is a great fighter, and I’ll be glad to fight him again. I can’t wait.

“It’s all about bouncing back right now. I still feel like I’ve got a long way to go in boxing, and I have a lot to learn. Now I can’t wait for the rematch.”

Pavlik said he was also open to an immediate rematch.

“If Jermain wants to fight now, I’m ready,” he said. “I never turn a fight down.”

It is likely that when the rematch takes place it will again be a 160-pound title fight, and not at a 166-pound catchweight as originally written in the contract.

When the contract was signed, Taylor believed he would no longer be fighting at middleweight if a rematch took place. However, because he had such little problem making 160 pounds this time around, it appears he might be able to stay in the middleweight division, after all.

Taylor was shaken, and downtrodden, but composed after the fight. He said he had no problem with referee Steve Smoger’s decision to end the fight and rule it a knockout, and he was complimentary of Pavlik, as were Steward and DiBella.

But Taylor was also stunned.

“I can’t believe I lost,” Taylor said. “All that hard work, eight weeks of training camp. I did everything right. I kept my weight down. I don’t know, I just can’t believe I lost.”

Taylor didn’t make any excuses.

He was asked if he could have continued if Smoger didn’t stop the fight, but the former champion said the knockout was legitimate.

“He just caught me with it,” Taylor said. “I didn’t see it coming. I wasn’t expecting it. I couldn’t roll it like I wanted to do. He caught me with a great shot, man.”

Taylor was leading by three points on two judges’ scorecards and four points on the third card entering the seventh round. He caught Pavlik with some great shots of his own in the second round, when Taylor got the first knockdown in any of his title defenses.

But it turns out that knockdown might have been his undoing.

Taylor, knowing Pavlik was in trouble, said he threw a ton of punches trying to get him out. He just didn’t throw the correct kind of punch — an uppercut — as Steward had instructed him.

Throwing that many punches expended too much energy, and Steward said when Pavlik answered the bell to start the third round the momentum had shifted squarely to the Youngstown, Ohio, fighter’s corner.

By the seventh round, despite being in control of the fight on the scorecards, Taylor was not moving as well in the ring. He was no longer avoiding punches and abandoned his jab.

It was only a matter of time before a powerful Pavlik punch connected.

In the end, several did. Pavlik got up off the mat to come back and win a championship. Taylor has to do the same thing with his career now.

“In the second round, I threw a lot of unnecessary punches,” Taylor said. “I should have come with the uppercut. I thought I had him down, but I’ll give it to Kelly. He got up and came back strong. I was very surprised he came back up.”

Taylor said he will find a way to do the same thing.

“Don’t give up on me. I’m coming back next time,” Taylor said. “I lost, but don’t give up on me. I’ll be back.”

----

Don't say he wasn't humble. A story on the front page the other day said he made up excuses and said he wasn't legitimately knocked out. He acted much classier in defeat than he had after his last 2 wins.