29.09.07 – By Neil Dennis: Fight fans were expecting a brawl and they got one as Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik (32-0, 29KOs) took out WBC/WBO champion Jermain Taylor (27-1-1, 17KOs) in what announcer Michael Buffer declared “one of the great middleweight fights in the history of boxing”.
In the weeks coming into this fight, Taylor and trainer Emmanuel Steward had been dismissing Pavlik’s resolve. Calling Pavlik “overrated” and “average”, Taylor walked into the fight with overwhelming confidence that the knock out victory that he knew would silence the critics was at hand. Unfortunately, he was not the only one with something to prove. At the start of the fight, Pavlik seemed to dominate with power shots that surprised the champ. Then, in the second round, Taylor came alive after catching Pavlik flush.
He landed repeatedly until Pavlik fell to his knees. Getting to his feet, Pavlik showed signs of damage. The blood was flowing from his left nostril and he appeared dazed. Still, Pavlik came back into the fight in typical fashion, not allowing Taylor to take advantage.
Into the middle rounds, it became a high-volume boxing match. In an odd reversal, Pavlik was the one coming out with more jabs while Taylor was the one showing the higher output and accuracy. Taylor seemed to be finding his groove as he refused to allow Pavlik to keep him in the corner. Still, Pavlik would not yield, turning what could have been a domination by Taylor into a seesaw battle between the two undefeated fighters.
Then came the seventh round, as both Pavlik and Taylor came out swinging. Pavlik was showing more accuracy now, as it seemed apparent that Taylor was growing desperate. Hoping to land the decisive knock out punch, Taylor repeatedly left Pavlik opportunities. It all culminated as Pavlik finally got the corner domination he was looking for. Throwing a punch that caught Taylor square in the face, the champ stumbled back stunned and was driven into the corner. Pavlik seized the moment, throwing hooks at will. Finishing off with a solid uppercut to the jaw, Taylor crumpled to the canvas. Referee Steve Smoger seemed as if he was to about to count, but then immediately waved it off.
The embarrassment to Taylor’s ego was obvious. The now ex-champ and his entourage stormed out of the ring before Michael Buffer could make it official. Taylor refused to accept he had been bested by a man at least the equal of his previous opposition, claiming he had punched himself out following the second round knockdown. When asked if Pavlik was the strongest puncher he had ever faced; Taylor’s response was only, “[Pavlik]’s a pretty strong puncher”, then followed that up with comments that attempted to downplay the loss.
As Taylor was trying to figure out what went wrong, Pavlik reveled in the moment. He thanked God, his family and the massive turnout of fans from his home of Youngstown, Ohio for the victory. When commentator Larry Merchant asked Pavlik about what was going through his mind during the knock down in the second, Pavlik smiled.
“You want to know what I was thinking?” Pavlik said with a chuckle. “When I went down I said to myself, ‘s—, it’s going to be a long night.’”
Taylor, of course, swore that he wanted Pavlik to be his very next fight. Pavlik stated that he would happy to take the rematch. With Taylor winning on all three judges’ cards, both fighters would be coming back to the ring with something new to prove. And though the rematch clause demands this happen, it still remains to be seen. Much talk has been made of super middleweight champ Joe Calzaghe’s desire to fight the winner of this bout, depending on Calzaghe first besting fellow titlest Mikkel Kessler in November. Only time will tell how this situation will shape up.