by David P. Greisman

The greatest of expectations can’t always match up with the greatest of expectorations.

Kelly Pavlik knocked Jermain Taylor out in September. Emphatically. Taylor was still slumped in the blue corner when he came to. Twenty minutes earlier he had sent Pavlik careening around the ring, knocking him down and landing a total of 35 unanswered punches. But he failed to finish the task at hand, and this was the price he paid.

“I got knocked out?” he asked. Taylor awoke to an unforgiving reality. He was no longer the middleweight champion. Taylor nodded.

He’d have much more to say four months later.

“I want to beat the guy who beat me,” Taylor said in the days leading up to this past Saturday’s rematch with Pavlik. “This time when I get him in trouble I will finish him off. He won’t get back up.”

Tough words for a tough challenge. Once bitten by Pavlik’s knockout power, Taylor wasn’t shy about spitting venom in his opponent’s direction.

“It’s all about going out there and just making Kelly look like nothing,” Taylor said. “I was beating him on just half-ass stuff, so imagine what’s going to happen this fight.”

Imagine. A sequel to one of last year’s most dramatic slugfests. Taylor was knocked out. His championship was gone. And while this bout was a non-title affair contested at a catchweight of 166 pounds, the native of Little Rock, Ark., was returning to reclaim everything else he believed was rightfully his. It was either brave, foolish or both, and yet few minded as long as it meant a second helping of bashed pugilists.

Pavlik, the product of Youngstown, Ohio, wasn’t counting on just his fists full of steel to let him punch out early from another night on the disassembly line. The blue-collar fighter was willing to put in old-fashioned hard work to overcome an opponent who official ringside scorers so seemed to favor that Taylor’s nickname, “Bad Intentions,” had ultimately given way to the derisive “Bad Decisions.”

“He’s always been favored with the judges,” Pavlik said in the build-up to the fight. “What we’re going to have to do is just pick up the pace even more and make sure that we land cleaner, sharper punches, and that we outwork him.”

Over seven rounds in September, Pavlik had pressured Taylor with stiff jabs and hard right hands. The taller, stronger man looked to impose his will once again. How soon would this bout be over?

Not so fast.

Their talk was good, and the action wasn’t bad. But this bout, instead of being brief and remarkable, went a tactical 12, with both men summoning from within different manners of going for the win.

Taylor, who said lackadaisical training was to blame for his running on fumes in his first go-around with Pavlik, was economic with his ammunition. He threw just 38 punches per round, landing an average of 15 for every three minutes. He kept his hands higher, providing protection against Pavlik’s power punches. And he constantly remained aware of where the ropes were, consciously avoiding a return to his Waterloo.

Pavlik, meanwhile, lived up to his pre-fight promise, working behind his long left hand and dictating the action with activity. He threw 70 punches per round, putting out more jabs than Taylor did punches. For every clean, flashy punch that Taylor landed, Pavlik did more to accumulate damage, leaving an impression on his opponent’s face and in the judges’ minds.

115-113. 116-112. 117-111. All three tallies read in favor of the undefeated 25-year-old from the Midwest, Kelly Pavlik.

One decision deserves another.

Four months ago, the world was Pavlik’s oyster, the prize produced from a pearl of a performance. He was the new middleweight champion, thanks to a fantastic finale far more impressive than the close and controversial conclusions that had mostly marked Taylor’s time at the top.

There was just one obligation he had to fulfill first.

Taylor had exercised his rematch clause with Pavlik, meaning the two would meet again – and soon. For a non-title bout, this would be catchall at a catchweight. The implications of each person’s performance were important. Taylor, should he exact revenge, would redeem himself and rise to the super middleweight division with momentum and marketability. By triumphing twice over Taylor, Pavlik could then return to the 160-pound weight class to begin his reign.

Pavlik came out victorious. This time, however, was nowhere near as glorious.

A second straight knockout would have sealed Pavlik’s stardom, cementing him as a marquee attraction. Far before he stepped into the squared circle for his rematch with Taylor, Pavlik’s promoter pondered possible opponents for the future, from unproven prospect John Duddy to faded former champion Felix Trinidad. Each, on his own, could put fannies in seats. Adding Pavlik to the equation promised a box-office bonanza.

Not so fast. There’s still work to do before Pavlik can punch out of the middleweight division. There are title claimants to depose, contenders to demolish. Pavlik has long punished his body to make the weight limit. But consistent with his blue-collar upbringing, it’ll be worth the effort.

“It’s going to be a problem to get to 160,” Pavlik said recently. “It’s been that way, but we’ll get down.

“It took me seven years, and I’ve fought some rugged guys to get those belts,” he said. “I won’t leave without defending them.”

The 10 Count

1.  On the pay-per-view undercard to Pavlik-Taylor 2, Fernando Montiel made short work of Martin Castillo, retaining the World Boxing Organization 115-pound title with a fourth-round knockout.

Castillo, a former beltholder who was once one of the most highly regarded fighters in the division, was bullied by the bigger Montiel from the get-go, going down in the opening stanza from a lead left hook. It would portend the punishment to come.

Montiel hurt Castillo with a combination in what would be the final heat, finishing up a fusillade with a left-hook to the liver that forced Castillo to his knee until the referee completed his count.

Montiel, once spotlighted as a promising face of the future, had subsequently sunk due to less-than-scintillating performances. That’s changed as of late, and the native of Los Mochis, Mexico, has now positioned himself for a major fight against one of the other top names in his weight class.

2.  In the card’s other junior bantamweight title bout, Cristian Mijares not only stood in front of an opponent who averaged more than 100 punches per round, but he prevailed on the judges’ scorecards, too, beating Jose Navarro by split decision in a successful defense of the World Boxing Council belt.

Mijares was no slouch in the energy department either, lobbing an average of 70 shots every three minutes, bloodying Navarro’s nose, opening up a cut over his opponent’s right eye and dodging more than 1,000 incoming blows. Judges Chris Wilson and Adalaide Byrd saw the bout in his favor, 115-113 and 117-111, respectively, giving Mijares his highest-profile win since last year’s one-sided clinic against Jorge Arce.

As for Navarro, he thrives despite coming up short for the fourth time in a title challenge, giving a performance that belied any criticism that he was simply unable to get over the proverbial hump. Navarro forced Mijares to work extremely hard for the victory, and one judge, Doug Tucker, even favored the former Olympian’s effort, albeit by an inexplicable 120-108 score. Interestingly, Navarro also won all 12 rounds on a judge’s scorecard in a split decision loss three years ago to Katsushige Kawashima.

3.  Congratulations are due, then, to Jose Navarro, who just became the answer to a Trivial Pursuit question.

4.  In other action this weekend, Nicolay Valuev shut out former heavyweight titlist Sergei Liakhovich over 12 rounds in Germany, with the final tallies reading 120-108 (twice) and 120-107 for the seven-foot Russian.

With the win, Valuev earned the right to rematch the man who dethroned him last year, World Boxing Association beltholder Ruslan Chagaev. Poor Chagaev. He was set for a unification bout last year against Sultan Ibragimov before being sidelined because of health issues. Instead, Ibragimov and Wladimir Klitschko will be the first to work toward clearing up boxing’s marquee division as of this Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Liakhovich weighed in at a career-high 251 pounds, a baker’s dozen higher than what he tipped the scales at for his title-winning bout against Lamon Brewster. Liakhovich hadn’t fought since 15 months ago, when, ahead on the scorecards in a dreadful bout with Shannon Briggs, he was knocked out of the ring and lost via technical knockout in the final second of the final round.

5.  Dodgeball, an occasional update: Inspired by its performance in the previous season’s playoffs, team Aim Low came out firing – and catching and dodging – in its first game of the season. Spurred on by Donna Moxley and Ashleigh Reams, and with the help of some circus-like catches from Gregg Lavoie, this fun-lovin’ batch of newspaper staff and friends held the Gyroballers scoreless for close to 25 minutes, taking a 6-0 lead with hopes of a dominant shutout.

Those wishes didn’t come true, but Aim Low’s lead proved insurmountable despite a gritty Gyroballers comeback in the remaining moments. Final score: 6-3. This past week’s post-game beer of choice: Newcastle Brown Ale.

6.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part one: A convicted criminal who became a professional boxer is seemingly back on track for a return to his former occupation.

Mzukisi Roberts, a South African bantamweight, was arrested last month and charged with allegedly breaking into a spaza, an informal store, and stealing airtime vouchers, tobacco and other merchandise, according to South African newspaper Daily Dispatch.

A judge last week ordered Roberts and his two alleged accomplices to be held without bail.

Roberts was once in the middle of a 10-year prison sentence for armed robbery when a prison warden escorted him from behind bars to his professional boxing debut. Roberts won that 2004 bout, scoring a third-round stoppage over Siyabulela Nokhele, but the result was later changed to a no contest.

Roberts has fought 11 times since gaining his freedom, running up a 10-1 record and even boxing once between prison walls. His last appearance was in September, a third-round technical knockout of the same man he had faced in his Sweet Science debut.

7.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part two: Former amateur fighter Ryan O’Connor is facing nearly a dozen fraud charges after his used-car dealership in Canada allegedly tampered with loan applications in a scheme that forced some of his customers into debt, according to the Ottawa Sun.

O’Connor’s dealership is accused of manipulating loan applications so that normally unqualified customers would receive financial assistance. Some customers were unable to afford the payments, of course, leading them to default on the loans and have their vehicles repossessed.

8.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part three: Another former amateur, Jeffrey Thomas, was sentenced to three years in prison last week on a manslaughter conviction stemming from a January 2007 assault in Swansea, Wales.

Prosecutors said Thomas, 43, punched a 49-year-old man who had once dated his then-girlfriend. The man’s head struck a curb, fracturing the back of his skull and leading to swelling of his brain. The man died the next day.

A jury found Thomas not guilty of murder but convicted him on manslaughter charges.

9.  Boxers Behaving Badly update: Oh Scott Harrison, Scott Harrison, where do we begin?

The former featherweight beltholder was convicted last week on charges of disturbing the peace and resisting arrest relating to an April 2006 outside of a bar in Glasgow, Scotland, according to numerous reports from across the pond. Harrison was acquitted of a charge of assaulting a police officer.

That’s not all.

Harrison will appear in a Spanish court in several weeks to face accusations that he attempted to steal a car and assaulted a police officer and another man. He is reportedly selling off his homes in order to cover his legal expenses.

An attempt to return to boxing has been put on hold, meanwhile, largely because Harrison can’t get his license back when the only fighting he’s doing is in the courtroom.

Harrison last appeared in the ring in November 2005, when he outpointed Nedal Hussein. After an eventful 2006 that saw multiple legal problems and reported struggles with alcohol and depression, Harrison was set to fight late in a title defense late that year against Nicky Cook, but he couldn’t get his weight under 133 pounds.

10.  Scott Harrison, boxing’s Britney Spears.

David P. Greisman’s weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com