LAST time around, Jermain Taylor had Kelly Pavlik do the chicken dance in the second round. He had him crawling on his knees, but ?The Ghost? just wouldn?t go away.
He hung around as ghosts often do, and in the seventh, spooked everybody by knocking out Taylor?a feat not even the great Bernard Hopkins came close to doing.
This time, Taylor has promised to make sure Pavlik stays down when he goes down. Can he deliver on that promise? Let?s look at the facts.
JERMAIN TAYLOR (27-1, 17 KOs)
STRENGTHS. Smooth, skilled boxer. Jermain Taylor has an excellent amateur background, having won the bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics. He?s a master at executing the basic one-two combo: jab with a booming right hand behind it.
Experience. Taylor has been in there with some of the best fighters of this era: Bernard Hopkins, Winky Wright, Kassim Ouma, Cory Spinks.
WEAKNESSES. Prior to his first loss, there weren?t too many. But Pavlik capitalized on Taylor?s defensive lapses, primarily his habit of keeping his left hand low.
Also, Jermain?s stamina is questionable. Hopkins showed he had a lot more left in the last rounds of both fights, and he seemed to wilt in the face of Pavlik?s show of courage and tenacity.
BEST PERFORMANCE. Hopkins-Taylor 2. The first fight was close, and some thought he didn?t deserve the nod. But even granting that was the case, nobody had come close to beating Hopkins in more than a decade. In the rematch, Jermain proved to everybody that he had Hopkins? number.
KELLY PAVLIK (32-0, 29KOs)
STRENGTHS. Power. It?s the great equalizer and Kelly has lots of it. With only three opponents lasting to hear the final bell, the power of the ?Ghost? is downright pretty scary.
Resiliency. It?s always good to be young, strong and feel almost invincible. At 25 years of age, Kelly is in the prime of his youth. He showed his resiliency in the Miranda fight and displayed his awesome recuperative powers in the first fight with Taylor. If he can?t beat you with his boxing skills, he?ll do it by outlasting you.
Size. At 6-foot-2 1/2, Pavlik dwarfs almost any middleweight he will face. This fight will be fought at the super-middleweight limit upon Taylor?s request, but it looks like it?s Pavlik who will benefit from this higher weight.
WEAKNESSES. Defense. Lack of speed. Kelly isn?t hard to find. He?s big and looks clumsy. He?s not exactly the slickest boxer out there.
BEST PERFORMANCE. Taylor-Pavlik 1. He practically came of nowhere to do what nobody had done before. Beat Jermain Taylor and do it via the short route. Impressive.
PREDICTION. The last time around, Taylor boasted that he was a dog, a fighter. That he?d fight even if he had a broken arm etc? Well, Pavlik showed that he had more dog in him than Taylor.
Taylor?s preference for a higher weight may be good for him as he has probably outgrown the middleweight division. But Pavlik welcomed the proposal, saying he could eat more and pack it into his wider, bigger frame.
Taylor will have his moments and rock Pavlik early, but he won?t be bringing anything new to the table and so by the middle rounds, Pavlik will be giving it to him.
Pavlik by KO in round 11.
HE SAID IT. ?I?m not looking to go in there with a strategy. It?s going to be a fight, all 12 rounds… He gets knocked out, I get knocked out, it don?t matter. I?m going straight to him.??Former middleweight champ Jermain Taylor
THE LAST ROUND. It?s on the girl who nurtures my spirit and inspires me. The Chief Justice of my life?the mother of my two beautiful daughters.. my wife, Hon. Judge Charina Navarro-Quijano. Happy Birthday and Cheers!
