By Mark Vester
Undefeated Kelly Pavlik (31-0, 28KOs) punched his way to the top and only WBC/WBO middleweight Jermain Taylor (27-0-1, 17KOs) stands in his way of being recognized as one of the best fighters in the sport. Pavlik challenges Taylor for his titles on September 29 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. HBO will televise.
During a recent conference call with the media, Taylor and his promoter Lou DiBella dismissed Pavlik as being nothing more than a fighter being hyped up because of his skin color. Taylor feels that Pavlik is nothing more than robot brawler.
“I love it,” Pavlik said. “He’s expecting one thing and that’s not what he’s going to get. That’s more of an advantage to me if that’s what he thinks. It will just be sweeter for me after the victory. That’s all I can say about that. I feel I earned my way up to the top. I still have more to prove, but I'm not going to let them put me down. I'm No. 1 for a reason. They just think I'm a slow white kid from the Midwest who comes straight ahead. They're going to be surprised. It just makes it sweeter when I win."
Taylor and DiBella also felt that Pavlik's record was misleading and being overblown by the experts, stating that he was carefully matched by his promoter, Top Rank.
"Edison Miranda ran his mouth and was very humble after the fight. But these guys (Taylor and DiBella), if they want to run their mouths and say things like that it's just sweeter for me after the victory," Pavlik said. "I fought guys nobody in the top 10 would fight. First of all, Zertuche was a rugged fighter, and Miranda, besides Allan Green, who really wanted to fight him? Who still wants to fight him? But I did."
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