Pavlik-Miranda easily steal show, as expected
By Jake Donovan
Memphis, TN – It was a tale of two middleweight fights Saturday night in Memphis. The first bout classifies as an all-action adventure; the second bout, a bedtime story.
Jermain Taylor managed to successfully defend his middleweight title for the fourth time, though unable to avoid controversy as he escaped with an unpopular split decision over junior middleweight titlist Cory Spinks in the main event.
The main event had the unfortunate event of having to follow the lead of an unforgettable slugfest. Taylor and Spinks never came close to following suit; in fact, they didn't even bother to try. The closest they came to giving the crowd their money's worth in entertainment was during Cory Spinks' ring walk. Always known for his theatrical entrances, Spinks entered the ring accompanied by St. Louis rapper Jibbs, pumping out the lyrics to his hit "King Kong."
Unfortunately, the action in the ring bore more resemblance to Fay Wray. A tactical bout was expected, with Spinks as true of a boxing savant as there is in the game today, and Taylor not having scored so much as a knockdown in well over two years. The little action offered through twelve rounds was enough to make purists cringe. The final scorecards would make 'em nauseous.
Spinks controlled the action in the early going, with his jab and occasional left hand the only thing resembling action. Taylor would draw a reaction from the crowd whenever he launched a right hand, whether it landed or not. Very few got through, though not too many were thrown to begin with.
Taylor began to find his groove in the fifth round, and enjoyed some of his best moments of the fight in the sixth and seventh finding his range with his right hand. His blows were the more telling of the fight, with two of the three judges favoring Taylor's power to Spinks' jab-and-move approach.
Spinks came back to take the eighth, one of only three rounds he swept on all three cards, the first and eleventh being the other two. Taylor came back to take the ninth, at which point the fight was already off of the table for Spinks on one card and approaching the point of no return on another. Gale Van Hoye is a name fans, and particularly the Association of Boxing Commissions, may want to remember, as she somehow had Taylor winning seven of nine rounds at this point.
Spinks won the tenth round on two of the three cards, and swept the eleventh on all three, leaving many in attendance to believe it would come down to the final round to determine who won the fight. Fittingly enough, the judges were split on the twelfth, as they were in the final verdict.
A lackluster end to a lackluster fight became interesting once Michael Buffer began announcing the absurd scores. A miscalculation of 111-107 was later deciphered as Spinks winning 117-111 on Dick Flaherty's scorecard. Gale Von Hoye countered his lopsided scorecard with her tally of 117-111 for Taylor. Michael Pernick broke the tie, scoring it 115-113 for the winner and still champion, Jermain Taylor.
BoxingScene saw it 116-112 for Spinks, though in line with the official scoring, opinions at ringside were split.
The decision was an unpopular one amongst the mildly disappointing crowd on hand, even with Jermain being well represented in Memphis and his hometown of Little Rock.
Neither fighter seemed to directly address the wide disparity in scoring, though both insisting that they did enough to win the fight.
"All he did was run all night," insisted Taylor (27-0-1, 17KO), who attempted just 319 punches in the bout, less than 30 per round. "I couldn't get my punches going because he kept running around all night. You don't take the champion's title by running."
You can take it with ring generalship and effective lateral movement, which Spinks believed to be the case.
"I won that fight, man," said a dejected Cory (36-4, 11KO), who landed 85 punches out of 542, a 16% connect rate. "He was tough, he hung on. But I put on a great boxing display. I was robbed, there's really nothing else to say."
There's certainly nothing else to say about the main event, which leads us to the co-feature. A star was born as Kelly Pavlik outlasted and eventually broke down Edison Miranda in an instant classic that was more in tune with the festivities that come with "Memphis in May."
It was a party throughout the Memphis streets, and a thunderstorm inside the arena as Pavlik and Miranda threw down in a contest that is supposed to determine who gets the next crack at Jermain Taylor. Pavlik earned that right, along with universal recognition as the biggest threat to any middleweight on the planet, with a riveting 7 th round stoppage over hard-hitting Edison "Pantera" Miranda.
Easily the biggest trash talker in the sport, Miranda learned the hard way that fights are not won and lost at the press conference. As did HBO, whose extended pre-fight showcase piece on Miranda led to twenty minutes of "dead space" in an arena devoid of energy and in desperate need of resuscitation.
Luckily they only needed to wait as long as the opening bell, as Pavlik and Miranda gave the fans their moneys worth seconds into the bout. Pavlik was regarded as the more skilled fighter of the two, with Miranda's pure punching power regarded as the equalizer.
What oddsmakers didn't count on was Pavlik outslugging the slugger. The pride of Youngstown insists such was their first mistake.
"All the trash talking Miranda offered served as a confidence builder for me," said Pavlik (31-0, 28KO). "I knew that I was tougher than Miranda and it was a great opportunity for me."
To the delight of the crowd, it was a great fight as well. The war began no sooner than the echoing from the opening bell, with Pavlik landing a right uppercut along the ropes early into the fight. The round showcased Pavlik's all around skill level and overwhelming desire to knock people out, as if his seven-fight knockout streak going into the fight wasn't enough proof.
"The Ghost" nearly made Miranda disappear early in the second, when a volume of punches had the Colombian trapped along the ropes. Proving his fighting heart, Miranda not only survived, but landed enough right hand bombs to hurt Pavlik and win what has to qualify as a round of the year entrant.
Pavlik bounced back strong, taking the third and fourth rounds with an effective mix of boxing and slugging, though more of the latter. Miranda stood tall for the most part, but was beginning to tire. Tired and hurt fighters become desperate fighters. Miranda showed signs when he began to frequently throw and land considerably below the belt. Referee Steve Smoger warned Miranda a few times, but never took a point.
Miranda's last moment in the sun would come in the fifth, where he still had some zip on his fastball. Though his right eye was beginning to swell shut, Pantera managed to leave Pavlik marked up as well, complete with busted left eye and a fat lip. A big right hand punctuated the round, drawing a huge reaction from the crowd, already thoroughly entertained throughout.
They would get continued reason to cheer, but it all came courtesy of Pavlik's power taking over for good. Standing toe-to-toe and chest-to-chest, Kelly survived the battle on the inside before coming through with a left hook and right cross that deposited Miranda to the canvas for the first of three times in the fight. Miranda arose at six, sans his mouthpiece, which was ejected while he was taking the mandatory count. The intentional infraction cost Miranda a point, though the scorecards were a moot issue. Edison needed to worry more about surviving. He barely escaped the sixth, but not before visiting the canvas courtesy of a combo capped off by a left hook along the ropes. Miranda beat the count and returned to the corner, where the doctor took a long look and Smoger made sure to clearly point out the deduction.
Down 58-53 on two cards (as well as BoxingScene's) and 57-54 on the third going into the seventh, Miranda was rapidly approaching the point of no return. He was never given a chance to rally back; Pavlik attacked like a harbor shark, trapping Miranda along the ropes. A right hand set up a final flurry which produced the final knockdown and the end of the bout, as Smoger waved it off without a count.
Official time was 1:54 of the seventh round.
Pavlik outlanded Miranda more than 2-1. In fact his 242 (45% connect rate) landed punches were nearly 60 more than the combined total of Taylor (101) and Spinks (85). The jab was utilized well by Kelly, but it was all about the long ball, landing an astonishing 193 power shots in 6 ½ rounds of action. He ate 90 power punches in return from Miranda (28-2, 24KO), who landed 111 out of 504 overall (22%) in the losing effort.
The only thing Pavlik is now interested in landing is a shot at the title, Jermain's or anyone else willing to step up.
"I want to fight the world champion. If I don't get Taylor, I still want a shot at a world title."
Promoter Bob Arum, never one to mince words, stayed true to form in his blunt response.
"Back in January, we had a WBC elimination match, and paid a sanctioning fee when Kelly fought Jose Luis Zertuche. Then we were informed that Edison Miranda was still ahead of us in the ratings. We fought and beat Miranda, and paid a sanctioning fee. If we don't get our title show, we are not only going to the courts, but also to the Congress to get what's ours."
Taylor's response to a similar question suggests Pavlik may not want to hold his breath.
"Pavlik is a great fighter, and I would love to fight him. If Pavlik is considered the best and brings me the most money, then I will love to fight him."
DiBella Entertaiment president Lou DiBella, who promotes Taylor, remained noncommittal to an answer, though gave Pavlik his full props.
"Kelly Pavlik is without a doubt the number one middleweight contender in the world. I will say that Jermain got it right in that whoever brings the most money is the guy we need to look at. But in all fairness, Pavlik is the top contender and deserves a title shot."
Boxing fans deserved a fight like this, as well as clarity in a sport cluttered with confusion. In the middleweight division, two things are now clear after Saturday night: Jermain Taylor is the champion and Kelly Pavlik is the biggest threat to his throne.
