Pavlik vs. Taylor 2

"The main question is, 'What are you going to do different this fight?' Nothing. I think he's going to come back with a lot to prove. Everybody keeps saying there's going to be fireworks that night and everybody is right, 'cause there is. Jermain has a lot of pride, and he's going to come back with something. My job is to be ready for the best Jermain Taylor and come in the best possible shape that I can be in." - Kelly Pavlik on his rematch with Jermain Taylor

Feb. 13, 2008

By Jeff "Wombat" Meszaros
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

The Feb. 16 rematch between former world champion Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor and undefeated current world champion Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik might not have the mass appeal of recent pay-per-view blockbusters like Mayweather vs. Hatton or Mayweather vs. De La Hoya, but after the first epic battle between the two middleweights, it should.

Unlike "Pretty Boy" Floyd, both Pavlik and Taylor do their talking more or less exclusively in the ring. Neither are particularly wicked trash talkers. That might make their second fight harder to sell, but it's also exactly what made their first match on Sept. 29, 2007, in Atlantic City, N.J., one of the best bouts that boxing fans had seen in years.

Pavlik and Taylor went toe-to-toe for seven rounds straight in their first match. (AP Images)

Unlike the past two Mayweather bouts, which arguably failed to live up to the hype, Pavlik and Taylor went toe-to-toe for seven rounds straight and had fans on their feet throughout the fight. In the first round, Taylor came out hard, looking for the quick knockout. Pavlik ate several punches but returned fire on the inside, landing some offense of his own. Midway through the second round, Taylor nailed Pavlik with a right and stunned him badly, sending him to the canvas with a flurry of punishing punches. Incredibly, Pavlik survived the onslaught and recovered.

After the second-round knockdown, Pavlik pulled off one of the most spectacular come-from-behind wins in the history of boxing. Pinning Taylor to the ropes in the third round, "The Ghost" totally dominated Taylor with his long reach, landing punch after punch on the inside. Not to be outdone, Taylor mounted another offense in the fourth, backing Pavlik into a corner twice. Taylor kept up the pace into the fifth and sixth rounds, using his double-jab to keep Pavlik on the defense and against the ropes.

Although Taylor was leading on all three judges' scorecards heading into the seventh round, many boxing analysts had the score nearly even, with three rounds each. In Taylor's mind, though, he was losing the bout and in later interviews, Jermain said he had wasted energy trying to finish off his opponent.

Pavlik came out a winner against Edison Miranda as well. (AP Images)

While Taylor thought he was behind, Pavlik felt he was leading and went into the seventh round with bad intentions. Working his left jab, he forced Taylor backwards across the ring to start the round and caught him with a right hand uppercut followed by a brutal left and right, sending Taylor instantly to the canvas. At 2:14 in the seventh round, referee Steve Smoger stopped the fight without giving Taylor a count, and Pavlik was the new middleweight champion.

It was the first loss and the first knockout of Taylor's professional boxing career. Immediately, he activated the clause in his contract for a non-title rematch. Now, on Saturday, Feb. 16 in Las Vegas, Nev., Pavlik and Taylor will go at it again.

News of the rematch came as a shock to the undefeated champ, who expected Taylor to take more time before challenging him again. Still, Pavlik says he knows why the second bout came around soon after Taylor's first loss.

"I was surprised," he told the media during his prefight conference call. "But at the same time, it was kind of weird because here is a guy that's been undefeated. He went in there and beat [Bernard] Hopkins twice, and Hopkins was 'the man' at middleweight. He went in there and beat him. He beat the fast, elusive Cory Spinks. He beat up [Kassim] Ouma, and then he had a draw with Winky Wright who is still considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters.

Pavlik gave Taylor the first knockout of his career. (AP Images)

"So I think when this happened he was in awe, you know, shock. And I think that's why he's coming back so quickly," Pavlik continued. “And I think that it could be a mistake. And I was kind of surprised at first, but at the same time, the kid is not used to losing and he beat all these guys - all these top fighters. And I think that he wants to come back."

In his own conference call, Taylor says that's exactly the right reason. The rematch is at 166 pounds instead of 160, so the middleweight belt won't be on the line. But for Taylor, it's not about the belt. It's about proving he can beat Pavlik, the man who stole his championship and handed him his first knockout defeat.

"It's all about revenge now," he said. "I'm just going in there getting back everything this man took from me. He beat me for the championship, but you know, can he do it again? Or did he just get lucky? People want to see good fights, and that's what me and Kelly are going to give them."

For their rematch, Taylor says he won't make the same mistake he made in the second round of their first fight, where he had Pavlik hurt but couldn’t put him away.

Taylor wants to prove that he can beat Pavlik. (AP Images)

"If I get him in that position again," he explained, "I'm going to finish him. That's what I'm training for. I just felt like I wasted a lot of energy. I threw a lot of stupid punches and I should have put them together, gone to the body, uppercuts. I could have done a lot of things I didn't do. I underestimated him just a little bit and paid the price for underestimating him. Kelly was in great shape for the fight and I should have been in better condition for the fight, my mindset wasn't right."

Although Taylor says he's made the right changes to his game heading into the rematch, Pavlik isn't so sure what to expect for their second fight.

"It all depends on his style and how I stick to my game plan," he explained. "I don't know how he's going to react from that knockout. It was a stoppage, it was a pretty wicked knockout and neurologically I don't know how he’s going to respond. I don't know mentally if he's going to be hesitant, if he's going to come out firing.

"But, as you know we prepare for anything, we prepare for everything that Jermain’s coming with," he continued. "We'll be prepared for him to come out banging. We'll be prepared for him coming out and boxing. So it's just all on the 16th, and we'll find out."

TOP PHOTO: Jermain Taylor will get his revenge at a rematch against Kelly Pavlik on Feb. 16. (AP Images)