By Jake Donovan
It lacked the to-hell-and-back thrill ride that came with their unforgettable war last September, but undefeated middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik and former king Jermain Taylor once again entertained in their pay-per-view rematch Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the end, it was Pavlik who prevailed by unanimous decision in their catchweight bout, fought at the contracted weight of 166 lb.
It was a magical 2007 for Pavlik, who scored three straight highlight reel knockouts, including the come-from-behind, off-the-canvas, 7th round knockout to violently snatch the middleweight crown and Jermain Taylor’s undefeated record last September in Atlantic City. Saturday night’s rematch was fought on a different gambling strip, with the two squaring off in the main event of an HBO PPV aired live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
Due to the terms of the rematch clause from their first fight, Pavlik’s linear middleweight crown was not at stake as the bout was fought at the aforementioned catchweight. That didn’t prevent the evening from having a championship feel, as Pavlik fought to preserve his undefeated record, while Taylor fought with revenge on the mind.
Taylor, 164, Little Rock, Ark., began the fight working behind a thudding jab, slipping an early right hand from Pavlik, 164, Youngstown, Ohio, clearly the crowd favorite. Pavlik responded with a jab of his own, forcing Taylor to wing a wild left hook while knocked off balance. A body shot by Pavlik paved the way for a left hook and right hand upstairs. A follow-up straight right drove Taylor backward, as Pavlik went on the attack. Sensing his man wasn’t ready to fall, Pavlik wisely remained patient while continuing to land.
There was much more give and take in the second round. Taylor was successful early with a heavy 1-2, which landed repeatedly. Pavlik came on strong toward rounds end, though Taylor refused to go away quietly, offering a response for nearly everything Pavlik had to offer. Pavlik changed that up in the third, starting out strong with his jab. Taylor struggled to regain his rhythm before finding a home for his right hand as the round wore on.
Things slowed down – by their standards, anyway – in the fourth round, with both fighters looking to establish their jab to set up their right hand shots. Pavlik was the far busier fighter, Taylor the more economical. Pavlik picked up the pace and regained momentum in the fifth round, drawing blood from Taylor’s nose with a straight hand, which was also the dominant weapon in the sixth round.
Taylor had his moments in the seventh, including a body shot flurry towards round’s end. But it was Pavlik who was once again controlling the tempo, throwing twice as many punches as Taylor for the second straight round. Round eight started out appearing to be more of the same before Taylor was able to land a double left hook 45 seconds in. Pavlik remained the busier fighter, but Taylor was able to tighten up his defense and land the cleaner blows. The round ended with both fighters exchanging right hand shots.
In between rounds, trainer Ozell Nelson, who assumed head training duties in Taylor’s camp following the departure of Emaneul Steward last fall, urged Taylor to pick up the pace in the ninth. In the opposite corner, Pavlik was ordered by career-long trainer JacK Loew and cutman Miguel Diaz to stop touching gloves, and keep pressuring Taylor.
None of that panned out in the ninth. Taylor remained economical with his punches, dropping right hands on Taylor’s chin, but not staying busy enough to inflict ensuing damage. Pavlik kept pressing forward, but worked largely behind the jab, unable to land his right hand as Taylor regularly picked off Kelly’s money punch.
Round ten marked uncharted territory for Pavlik, with none of his previous 32 victims lasting past the ninth. Taylor was no stranger to double-digit rounds, with six of his previous seven bouts prior to Pavlik having lasted the 12-round distance. It showed in the tenth, with Pavlik taking a rare breather while Taylor was able to land the cleaner shots and remain active enough to clearly take the round.
Pavlik attempted to regain his groove in the championship rounds, outworking Taylor, who was forced to clinch more so than at any other point in the fight. A right hand late in the eleventh round sent Taylor to the ropes, with Pavlik able to sneak in a right hand body shot that forced Taylor to hold on while attempting to get some spring back in his legs. Taylor slowly strolled to his corner at rounds end, his right eye grotesquely swollen while catching an earful from his corner to stay off the ropes and close strong.
The final round was fought like the preceding eleven – at close quarters. The two traded right hands early, before action slowed in the middle of the round. Pavlik went on the hunt in the final minute of the round, working behind his jab and getting out of harm’s way anytime Taylor loaded up with counters. The fight ended with the two sneaking in body shots while clinched at center ring.
The judges were unanimous in their decision, though each judge one round closer than the other. Scores were 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111, all for Pavlik, who improves to 33-0 (29KO) with the win. The decision win snaps a nine-fight knockout streak, though Pavlik remains undefeated and looks forward to the first defense of his middleweight crown. That fight is rumored to come in June against John Duddy, though Pavlik left the door open for the best available contender.
"I fought the (Edison) Miranda’s, I fought (Jose Luis) Zertuche, and I now fought Taylor back to back. You guys know I’ll fight anybody.”
Pavlik admitted afterward that nothing could top the thrill that came with the come-from-behind knockout to win the middleweight crown in their first fight, but was still pleased with his performance all the same.
“Nothing is as satisfying as the first win, but to beat a guy like Jermain Taylor again, considering everyone he beat, is great.”
Taylor was respectful in his post-fight assessment, though visibly upset at the final outcome.
“I thought it was a close fight, I thought I won,” insisted a dejected Taylor (27-2-1, 17KO), who drops his second straight. I won the early rounds, he made it close toward the end but I thought I did enough to win. He’s a strong fighter; I give him all of the glory.”
Televised Undercard
Fernando Montiel saved the best performance of his career for the biggest stage, blitzing through Martin Castillo before knocking out the former junior bantamweight titlist in the 4th round of a scheduled twelve between a pair of 1996 Olympians.
The bout was all Montiel (36-2-1, 27KO), who unloaded with power shots the very moment he knew he could hurt his foe. Montiel dropped Castillo with a compact left hook midway through the opening round, and Castillo (33-3, 17KO) never really got back into the fight.
After dominating rounds two and three, Montiel closed the show with a vengeance in the fourth, hurting Castillo with an assortment of power shots along the ropes before ending his night with a left hook to the body. Castillo winced in pain as referee Joe Cortez counted him out, 1:56 into round four.
The win made for a remarkable debate as to who is now considered the world’s best junior bantamweight. Cristian Mijares plead his case with a decision win over Jose Navarro in a spirited twelve-round battle nearly marred by controversy at the end.
Navarro (26-4, 12KO) wound up throwing over 300 more punches, but it was Mijares (34-3-2, 14 KO) landing the cleaner shots and with far greater accuracy throughout. In addition to Mijares superior skill set, Navarro was forced to contend with a broken nose, suffered in round two, and a nasty cut along his right eye, caused by a Mijares 1-2 in the 10th round.
Navarro never wilted, putting up a brave stand in the middle rounds and forcing Mijares to fight to the bitter end, but was never able to pull ahead. At least not on two of the three judges’ scorecards. Judge Doug Tucker apparently saw a different fight than everyone else, as he had Navarro pitching a shutout (120-108). His absurd scorecard was overruled by Adalaide Byrd and Chris Wilson, scoring it 117-111 and 115-113, respectively, for Mijares, who defends his WBC junior bantamweight title for the fourth time.
Mijares-Montiel, anyone? The winner would undoubtedly gain universal recognition as the world’s best junior bantamweight.
The televised portion of the show opened with Ronald Hearns, son of the legendary Tommy “The Hitman” Hearns, blitzing through hopelessly overmatched Midwestern clubfighter Juan Astorga (12-2-1, 7KO) en route to an eight round knockout. Hearns (18-0, 14KO) scored knockdowns in the 5th and 8th, the latter which prompted referee Jay Nady to wave off the bout after administering a nine-count and a thorough examining of Astorga’s faculties.
Official time was 1:10 of the 8th and final round of their junior middleweight bout.
The show was presented by Top Rank Inc. and DiBella Entertainment.
Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. His feature column runs every Tuesday, and his Prospect of the Week series runs every Thursday. Jake is also BoxingScene's official Telefutura correspondent.
Please feel free to submit any comments or questions to Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .
