Of course there will inevitably be bashing of Taylor , he lost again, there's nowhere else for him to go in the division etc. I disagree, Taylor's stock has imo risen appraciably in his two losing efforts to Kelly. His credibilty has somehow become inverse to his results. He showed great smarts tonight, fought in a new style, moving laterally and taking advantage of his speed more than he has in the past. He had the stones to get back in with the guy KTFO of him and made a great, entertaining fight. Manny Steward was clearly not the man to take Taylor forward; Jermain could already throw a big one-two and clinch, which is what manny seems to specialize in these days; Taylor needed more refinement. He has the size and athleticism to beat or be very competitive with anyone at 168. Pavlik has proven he can go the distance, box against someone his own size who is faster and more athletic. Very impressive, he is now THE MAN at 160. Hope he stays there for years and stamps his name as a great of boxing's 2nd division. I for one would not mind seeing Pavlik/Taylor III some time down the road, perhaps ina different division :good:good
Great write up, bro. I didn't get to see the fight tonight, but it's nice to hear good things about the results.
Good damned post. FINALLY!! I was starting to get sick reading all the damned whining on here. Both are bad ass fighters, and that was a hell of a fight.
I figured Taylor would get KO'd even quicker than in the first fight so I was pleasantly surprised when he it went the distance and Taylor actually proved to be very competitive.
Check out Shane Mosley. Lost the first one to Forrest and Wright badly. Yet took immediate rematches. Although he didn't win it, he accounted himself much better. Besides, Taylor is still young. He may be in for a title at 168. Who knows.
Good post. I can't beleive all the whiners on here claiming JT got robbed. Pavlik outboxed a much improved version of JT 116-112. Boo
That fight reminded of a very good fight from the 50's & 60's. Two good middleweights giving it their all in a clean bout. Taylor adapted and improved from the last fight. Pavlik continues to get better...he is still learning....and is the best middleweight today.....and should concentrate on establishing a legacy in that Division at this time.
I thought it was a great fight too.. 2 of the best at middleweight and possibly super middleweight. I actually thought the fight was a draw but I didn't have a problem with either fighter getting the nod, I did have a big problem with the scoring by the judges though. Anyway Taylor showed he has a great chin and he improved his game plan tonight.
I came away a little less impressed with both tonight. I thought Taylor reverted back to his defensive fighting in small spurts style while Pavlik showed less fire power and less adaptabillity in the different style. I think Abraham is best matchup @ 160 for Pavlik. He loses his size advantage @ 168. Though I think he would would compete well against either Calzaghe or Kessler
I agree, Taylor should have one because he had the right game plan. He just got away from it the second half of the fight. He should have worked the body more. Pavlik did to him in the last two rounds what he should have done in the mid round while Pavlik was tired. Big ups to Pavlik though. Next up for Pavlik should be Kessler in a catch weight or Winky :yep
