This just occurred to me. At the time of the stoppage, Taylor was ahead by 3 or 4 points on all cards. This means that he was on his way to winning a very controversial decision. Imagine if that happened AGAIN. Picture this in your minds, because this is what likely would have happened if the fight had gone to a decision: HBO has Pavlik ahead, most of press row has Pavlik ahead, the decision is about to be announced.... and the winner is... Jermain Taylor!!
The criticism and Taylor hate would go off the charts. On the other hand, if Taylor gets knocked out, like what happened, the attention turns to how great a fight it was. Taylor gets credit for taking part in such a great fight despite losing, and then they end up having a rematch anyways.
Pav showed us a lot in the fight, He wins the first round against an aggressive Champ Taylor, Gets knocked down in the 2nd (shows chin & will) and wins the 3rd round big. Close rounds till the 7 th, then finishes Taylor by KO! What more does he need to prove? "Good Fighters Will Fear Him"
This just occurred to me. At the time of the stoppage, Taylor was ahead by 3 or 4 points on all cards. This means that he was on his way to winning a very controversial decision. Imagine if that happened AGAIN. Picture this in your minds, because this is what likely would have happened if the fight had gone to a decision: HBO has Pavlik ahead, most of press row has Pavlik ahead, the decision is about to be announced.... and the winner is... Jermain Taylor!!
The criticism and Taylor hate would go off the charts. On the other hand, if Taylor gets knocked out, like what happened, the attention turns to how great a fight it was. Taylor gets credit for taking part in such a great fight despite losing, and then they end up having a rematch anyways.
Good point Southpaw16, Also, Imagine if there was a differant referee that prematuraly stopped the fight in the second round and left us thinking, "What If ?"
GREAT FIGHT!