DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Youngstowns Kelly Pavlik vs Jermain Taylor this Sat. for Middleweight title

Taylor, Steward have harsh words for Pavlik

Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor is generally laid-back and polite, a self-described country boy from Arkansas. He rarely has anything negative to say about his opponent, unless, of course, he's provoked.

Taylor's trainer, the renowned Hall of Famer Emanuel Steward, similarly shows great respect for the opponents of his fighters.

So what's gotten into them as Taylor's fifth defense against No. 1 contender Kelly Pavlik grows near? Is it something in the water in their isolated training camp in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains?

Whatever it is, neither Taylor nor Steward have anything nice to say about Pavlik (31-0, 28 KOs) in the buildup to the highly anticipated Taylor-Pavlik showdown Sept. 29 (HBO, 10:15 p.m. ET) at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

The bout kicks off a huge fall stretch of significant fights, and while pundits and fans alike view Taylor-Pavlik as one of the most competitive matches of the year, Taylor (27-0-1, 17 KOs) and Steward are quite dismissive of the 25-year-old Pavlik of Youngstown, Ohio, whom Taylor, 29, beat in the 2000 U.S. Olympic trials.

"I've been watching his tapes, and I know I'm supposed to say he's a good fighter and all that, but he's not. I don't see it," Taylor said. "I don't see him doing nothing. The only thing I see that's good is that he's a strong fighter, but other than that, nothing. He's a normal fighter. I don't mean to talk bad about him, I'm just telling you what I see. I'm glad the hype is there, but I just don't see it. I don't see him on my level.

"I'm happy people think it [will be close]. After I whup him, maybe I will get a little credit."

Steward is equally harsh in his assessment of the mandatory challenger, who earned his status with a sensational knockout of Edison Miranda in a May 19 brawl on the undercard of Taylor's struggle with junior middleweight titlist Cory Spinks.

"He's standard, overrated, all of that," Steward said.

Steward said that while Pavlik has been glorified for his win against Miranda, Taylor, despite some admittedly lackluster performances, has not gotten the credit he deserves for two fights and 24 tough rounds with the great Bernard Hopkins, a draw with "one of the most-avoided fighters," southpaw Winky Wright, and wins against two other quick southpaws, Kassim Ouma and Spinks, both among the best junior middleweights in the world.

Steward said Pavlik, a straight-ahead right-hander, would have an even tougher time with those opponents than Taylor did.

"Jermain beat those guys, three awkward southpaws in a row, and is still champion, and people are down on him," Steward said. "But Pavlik beat one fighter, Miranda, who was living off a loss to [Arthur] Abraham. That was his claim to fame. While Jermain was fighting and beating class A fighters, Kelly was fighting class B fighters. He took one risk with a fighter [Miranda] who was never all that anyway. I think Pavlik is overrated and in this fight, we can work on all the things that we could never do with those southpaws."

Pavlik, getting his first title shot, is not fazed by the criticism.

"I love it," said Pavlik, who has one of the highest knockout percentages among active fighters. "That's more of an advantage for me if that's what he thinks. All these guys [overlook me], but I feel I earned my way up to the top, so that stuff just makes it better after I win.

"They just think I'm a slow white kid from the Midwest who comes straight ahead. They're going to be surprised."


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I'm not that big of a boxing fan, but I'm excited for this fight. I golfed in an outing with Pavlik in June. He's a pretty cool guy. I hope he beats the crap out of Taylor!

lmao....They are busting on Pavlik? Kids a good fighter. They will find out when the last punch lands and Kelly's still standing.

Pavlik is a punk. I kicked his ass in a bar fight the other day...That's the story I tell all the hot chicks anyway.

He is from my area and gets a lot of press. All he does is beat everyone they put in front of him. I wouldn't be suprised at all if he ends up the champ. Good luck Ghost.

How do we catch this fight, HBOPPV,...??

It's on regular HBO. 10:15 Saturday

*Sitting here looking at my autographed 8X10 photo of Kelly, and remembering the conversation we had about 8 weeks ago*

Kelly's going to knock him the (bleep) out

Nothing wrong with wanting the hometown kid to do well but, folks alot of you must not be big boxing fans. Taylor will destroy this kid...again . The level of competition these two fighters have faced is night and day. Compare Mount Union ( a good small school) to the New England Patriots and then you'll understand the different levels of competition.


I'd love to be proven wrong and have Pavlik K.O. Taylor just to get some boxing buzz started in N.E. Ohio again but I just don't see it happening.

You will see it happening Saturday night

And I will be here Sunday to gladly eat my serving of crow if by some miracle Pavlik pulls this off. Do you serve crow with salt and pepper ?

No, we serve it with Hot Sauce.

The Ghost will have his day(or should I say night). The kid's got moxie and he's a pretty darned good fighter too.

We'll see who is still standing and then we'll either have kudos or crow.

I'll even let you use ketchup, or steak sauce since I am 100 percent sure your going to need it.

You should place a real bet then cause Vegas agrees with me. Seriously I hope that it is entertaining and with Pavliks history it should be. I wouldn't mind a bit if he won.

I'm gonna be there!!!
Go KP!

I'm not a betting man, but I do have a few bucks on Kelly

Gonna head up to Jillian's in Ytown to watch the fight with my sis, her boyfriend and my dad. ESPN was talking about the fight earlier, with a quote by Steward that somewhere along the lines of the fight was going to be a tough one- for one round. And Taylor would knock him out in the first.

I highly doubt that. Good luck with the fight, Kelly.

I'll reserve judgement until Sunday morning and by then I have the feeling that I'll be all alone on this thread. This fight shouldn't even be close.

Quote:

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Taylor will destroy this kid...again .

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I never saw the first fight but I know there wasn't a KO. They were amatuers and Kelly was only 17. I don't think that fight has much to do with the fight tomorrow.

You're right . Different fights totally. My point is the competition that each fighter has faced. Taylor has fought some of the best in the business while Pavlik has been closely managed and been spoonfed creampuff opponents. On any given night though it doesn't matter who you are in there against because if Pavlik is taken lightly it could be a short night for Taylor . I know who will win but that doesn't stop me from wanting a "homey" win the fight.

Atta boy , keep the faith because unless I am mistaken that is all you'll have left after Saturday night. Another Great White Hope laid to rest.

I have as much faith as Kelly does, and he has plenty for this fight.

Thanks bud I hope to be celebrating his victory, and a Browns victory tomarrow.

Congrats to Kelly Pavlik, on a tough fought TKO!!!

Kelly just knocked out the former champ.

Hell yeah! This is great for Kelly and great for Youngstown. I loved him sporting the Buckeyes shorts too!

Pavlik knocks out Taylor in 7th round for middleweight title
The Associated PressPublished: September 30, 2007

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ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey: Kelly Pavlik knocked out Jermain Taylor in the seventh round to win the world middleweight title on Saturday.



Taylor entered the fight looking to buff up his image after what some perceived as a lackluster decision over Cory Spinks in May. He did that almost immediately, pounding Pavlik in the second round with a flurry that sent Pavlik down on all fours.

Pavlik survived the round and regained momentum in the third, backing Taylor into a corner and landing several lefts and rights to the head. But Taylor counterpunched effectively, leaving Pavlik bleeding from the nose and mouth by the end of the fifth round.

Far behind on points after absorbing a brutal beating in the second round, Pavlik cornered Taylor and stunned him with a hard right to the jaw, then sent him down with a flurry of lefts and rights.

With the largely pro-Pavlik crowd chanting "Kelly! Kelly! Kelly!" Pavlik slowly gained momentum, though he was still taking most of the punishment until the knockout.


Pavlik (32-0, 29 knockouts) remained undefeated, while Taylor (27-1-1) lost for the first time.


HELLL YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just got home from the Quake watching the fight.

Wow, I thought Kelly was DONE in the 2nd. Not only did he go down, he was seriously hurting, and you could tell. I wasn't sure if he'd even make out of the round, but he showed tremendous heart- the heart of a champ- and came back out in the 3rd and won the round.

Contrary to the above report, Kelly was giving him a good fight, and knockdown aside, was probably even on the scorecards from my vantage point. The place absolutely erupted when he won. It was awesome to see everyone out in support of him. Taylor face was pretty swollen in his post-fight interview, and Kelly sustained a nosebleed in the fight as well. A good, entertatining fight,"something that we don't always get in boxing nowadays.

Congrats to The Ghost!!!!!

Damn, I was at a party where they didn't have HBO. I wanted to see this so bad. Congrats Kelly!

KELLY, KELLY, KELLY YA BABY

Kelly has been waiting for this fight for a long time, and he thought Taylor has been ducking him and running scared. You wouldn't believe how pumped he was when Taylor agreed to the fight

I had Taylor ahead by one point going into that seventh round on my own scorecard (which is the one I go by, screw the judges ) But I did have to reach for the charmin in the second round and clean up that stain before it sat in on the couch but once Kelly survived the round and flashed that smile in the corner I knew he was alright. Congrats to Kelly, he knew he could do it, I knew he could do it, and most of the 5,000 fans who made the trip to NJ knew he could do it

Great boxer, and great DAD



Sorry guys I'm still pumped about this one

For those of you who want to see some photo's from the fight check out http://sports.yahoo.com/box/gallery?pg=1&cap=0

Wow, that's great. I always root for the local kids in things like this. Congrats!

I was "almost" shocked when they announced that the fight was as lopsided in the judges eyes as they had it. I thought the fight was relatively even at that point. IT's a matter of how many points they took away from in the 2nd I guess...

Like I said

"Kelly's going to knock him the (bleep) out"

Followed by your response

Nothing wrong with wanting the hometown kid to do well but, folks alot of you must not be big boxing fans. Taylor will destroy this kid...again .

Followed by me

You will see it happening Saturday night

Followed by you

And I will be here Sunday to gladly eat my serving of crow if by some miracle Pavlik pulls this off. Do you serve crow with salt and pepper ?

Here you go

Munch, munch, ...damn feathers..munch,, Hey I thought you said there would be hot sauce . Good call and props to Pavlik .

I gotta give it to you GM you said all along that he was the real deal and now ( if you let me ) I will board the Kellie Pavlik bandwagon . Nice to see some boxers from Ohio making noise .