Taylor needs to beat Pavlik impressively or else..

Me too. I think Taylor "should" win a fight like this, but he always seems to go away from his obvious advantages. I just don't have much confidence in Jermain to read the situation properly, and it doesn't appear so far that Emmanuel has gotten through to him, either.

To me, if Taylor will circle Pavlik and keep him occupied with the jab, he can then selectively exchange, beating Kelly to the punch and landing hard rights in the process. Unlike his recent opponents, Taylor will find Pavlik easy to hit.

But if he hangs out in no-man's land again, or drifts back to the ropes, or abandons the jab and headhunts, he's in big trouble.

 

A clear UD win for Taylor is enough for me. A win is a win, I don't expect Taylor to crush Pavlik.

 

atsch

How come I see eye to eye on most things with ya....until the words Jermaine and Taylor are uttered....:-(

Please name one fighter he should have fought that he ducked?

Hopkins, Hopkins, Wright, Ouma, Spinks. Regardless of what you feel the outcome should have been on any of those, not many other fighters can claim that kind of competition in a career...let alone all in a row.

Ya need to open ya eyes and give credit where credit is due.

 

Because no two boxing fans agree on EVERYTHING - and that's one of the beauties of these debates.

Now, sure, you're right - Taylor hasn't "ducked" opponents - at least initially. I am not at all persuaded, however, that either Ouma OR Spinks were the best opponents for Taylor to fight. ONE guy like that - an easy defense - can be excused, but two in a row?? Surely he could have taken on Miranda, or Abraham, or some other legitimate middleweight.

Pavlik is the first legitimate MW Taylor has taken on since he got those gift decisions against Hopkins. And I think we're gonna find out exactly WHY that has been the case when they meet, too.

 

Well, see thats the thing....we wont agree on everything.

Abraham was injured still and Miranda still hadnt proven a thing. Any other MW just isnt on the level of skill that Ouma or Spinks have...like them or not (I cant ****in stand Spinks...but he is a good fighter).

Hopkins fought smaller men. Hagler did too. The list could go on and on. It doesnt diminish their greatness (not to put Taylor in that elite class, but you get my point).

 

Actually, the way Pavlk is getting hyped on this board lately it's he who may have to win impressively to live up to the expectations that are being thrust upon him.
After all, Taylor has been exposed as a cowardly chump who only fights guys smaller than him, so this fight should be short and one sided, right?

There could very well be a lot of people scrambling for excuses when the fight is over if Pavlik doesn't expose Taylor like is supposed to happen.