Tweet
i dont know about you guys but i have a couple handicappers that i trust for honest opinions on every fight. being that i actually put money on these fights i like to get everyones point of view. obviously from all the miranda nuthuggers on this site you would think pantera is a 10-1 favorite tonight but the reality is that the fight is close to even money and people who predict winners for a living are calling for a pavlik victory..
here is the preview from my favorite guy, graham houston, a brit no less
Jermain Taylor’s middleweight title defence against Cory Spinks is HBO’s main event but the fight everyone is looking forward to seeing on Saturday is the scheduled 12-round elimination match between the 160-pound division’s two biggest punchers, Edison "Pantera" Miranda and Kelly Pavlik.
This is the way they did it in the old days, two young, dangerous fighters meeting to decide which one goes forward to the title fight.
Miranda, the Colombian who trains in Puerto Rico, is the favourite, but Pavlik, the blue-collar ****er from Youngstown, OH, has a lot going for him in the fight: he has the height and reach advantages, he might be the faster, better boxer, and he is one of the few middleweights who might be able to match fire with fire in an exchange of punches with Miranda and perhaps even get the better of it.
Pavlik, 25, has stopped 27 opponents in his 30 consecutive victories. His biggest wins were over another Colombian, Fulgencio Zuniga, and Mexican slugger Jose Luis Zertuche, but this is by far his toughest fight.
Miranda, with 24 KO wins in his 28-1 record, has faced the more formidable opponents — in his only loss he broke Arthur Abraham’s jaw in their title fight in Germany, and he stopped veteran world title challenger Howard Eastman in the seventh.
I think that people are sceptical of Pavlik because, no getting around it, he’s a white Midwest fighter. He told me in an interview published in Boxing Monthly in December 2005 that he has encountered the “great white hope” type of cynicism. “There are so many limited white fighters that come up that never made it,” he said, “and everybody thinks that I’m not gonna make it, the networks don’t want to deal with a white fighter because they think it’s a waste of time.”
Pavlik can fight, though. He showed it when he came off the floor from a first-round knockdown and outpunched Zuniga, who was blood-spattered from cuts over both eyes, and again in his HBO debut in Los Angeles in January when he knocked out Zertuche in the eighth round in front of a largely Mexican crowd that was cheering for his opponent. All he asked, he told me, was to be judged on his merits and given the chance to show what he can do.
Now he has that chance, and he is meeting a very strong, heavy handed, fearless aggressor who grew up in desperate circumstances, virtually abandoned as a child and obliged to fend for himself from an early age. For someone to overcome the challenges of such almost unimaginable deprivation and make something of himself indicates a great depth of character and I think that Miranda draws strength from his early life-struggle, a feeling that he has been through things that set him apart from other fighters.
Although Miranda is just a year older than Pavlik I think that some people might see this as a man against boy type of fight. Miranda just looks so tough, so menacing, so ready to fight.
Miranda can be hurt, though. We have seen it in at least three of his fights, starting in October, 2005, when he briefly grabbed the top rope to steady himself after being hit on the chin by Sherwin Davis in the second round — but he knocked out his lanky opponent in the very next round.
Howard Eastman wobbled Miranda with a right hand late in the sixth round — only to get caught and stopped in the seventh.
In his most recent fight, of course, Miranda was dropped by a left hook from Allan Green in the eighth round although, once again, he came back strongly, knocking down his previously undefeated opponent twice in the last round and coming very close to knocking him out.
If Pavlik can hit Miranda he can get him in trouble, but can he keep him in trouble? Miranda has great powers of recovery. He has a quality that I particularly like in a fighter, which is the ability to rally quickly from adversity and turn the tables on the fighter who has just nailed him with a telling blow, the attitude of: “OK, that was yours — here comes mine.”
I think that Miranda’s boxing ability has improved under his Puerto Rican trainer, Jose Bonilla. He is more patient now, using a good, stiff jab to make openings for the right hand, although his left hook is a lethal weapon, too — as Howard Eastman discovered in the seventh round. No one has ever buckled Eastman the way that Miranda did.
Yet there is a lot to like with Pavlik, too. He is capable of firing off impressive combinations. When he is in full flow he probably throws punches in greater volume than any other middleweight. Like Miranda he has the instincts of a fighter. Down from a left hook in the first round against Fulgencio Zuniga, he came back to win seven of the next eight rounds on all three judges’ scorecards before the fight was stopped at the end of the ninth due to the Colombian’s cuts. The Mexican Zertuche was throwing some bombs in the first couple of rounds but after that it was all Pavlik — I had expected him to win that fight but not to outclass his man before knocking him spark out in the eighth round.
On Saturday, Pavlik is on the biggest stage of hs career. He seems to be mentally ready, apparently unmoved by the war of nerves that Miranda wages with his borderline-Ricardo Mayorga line of trash-talking. His manager, Cameron Dunkin, tells me that Pavlik is looking forward to the fight. “It’s a dangerous fight but I have faith in my guy,” Dunkin said. “He’s a natural athlete and much stronger than people think he is. We know that Kelly can’t start slow in this fight. We want to get him good and warmed up [in the dressing room] so he’s ready to go. After the first two rounds we feel this will be Kelly’s fight.”
In Miranda’s camp they feel that they have the uncrowned champion, that anywhere but in Germany the fight with Abraham would have been stopped due to the German-Armenian’s grotesquely swollen jaw (not to mention their well-chronicled complaints about the refereeing and scoring of the contest). They feel it is inevitable that Miranda will become champion and that Jermain Taylor is on borrowed time (Saturday’s fight is to decide Taylor’s WBC mandatory challenger).
I think that Miranda’s camp could well be right about him becoming champion, but I am not sure that his time is now. I just get the impression that Miranda is still developing as a fighter, that the best is yet to come. Pavlik, I think, is in the right time and place to win this fight. I believe Pavlik has the boxing ability to survive if he gets wobbled — his “Ghost” nickname comes from elusiveness as an amateur — and he surely has the hitting power at least to get Miranda’s respect.
If each is mindful of the other’s punching power it could be a longer fight than perhaps generally expected; if the fighters come out to impose their respective wills it will most likely be over inside eight rounds one way or the other — we will not know until battle is joined.
There is always the possibility that Miranda will just be too much of an irresistible force — and if anyone gets caught cold in the early stages it will more likely be Pavlik than the Colombian. Yet as much as I respect Miranda, I have the feeling that Pavlik possesses the right blend of talent, speed, heart and punching power to upset the odds
here is the preview from my favorite guy, graham houston, a brit no less
Jermain Taylor’s middleweight title defence against Cory Spinks is HBO’s main event but the fight everyone is looking forward to seeing on Saturday is the scheduled 12-round elimination match between the 160-pound division’s two biggest punchers, Edison "Pantera" Miranda and Kelly Pavlik.
This is the way they did it in the old days, two young, dangerous fighters meeting to decide which one goes forward to the title fight.
Miranda, the Colombian who trains in Puerto Rico, is the favourite, but Pavlik, the blue-collar ****er from Youngstown, OH, has a lot going for him in the fight: he has the height and reach advantages, he might be the faster, better boxer, and he is one of the few middleweights who might be able to match fire with fire in an exchange of punches with Miranda and perhaps even get the better of it.
Pavlik, 25, has stopped 27 opponents in his 30 consecutive victories. His biggest wins were over another Colombian, Fulgencio Zuniga, and Mexican slugger Jose Luis Zertuche, but this is by far his toughest fight.
Miranda, with 24 KO wins in his 28-1 record, has faced the more formidable opponents — in his only loss he broke Arthur Abraham’s jaw in their title fight in Germany, and he stopped veteran world title challenger Howard Eastman in the seventh.
I think that people are sceptical of Pavlik because, no getting around it, he’s a white Midwest fighter. He told me in an interview published in Boxing Monthly in December 2005 that he has encountered the “great white hope” type of cynicism. “There are so many limited white fighters that come up that never made it,” he said, “and everybody thinks that I’m not gonna make it, the networks don’t want to deal with a white fighter because they think it’s a waste of time.”
Pavlik can fight, though. He showed it when he came off the floor from a first-round knockdown and outpunched Zuniga, who was blood-spattered from cuts over both eyes, and again in his HBO debut in Los Angeles in January when he knocked out Zertuche in the eighth round in front of a largely Mexican crowd that was cheering for his opponent. All he asked, he told me, was to be judged on his merits and given the chance to show what he can do.
Now he has that chance, and he is meeting a very strong, heavy handed, fearless aggressor who grew up in desperate circumstances, virtually abandoned as a child and obliged to fend for himself from an early age. For someone to overcome the challenges of such almost unimaginable deprivation and make something of himself indicates a great depth of character and I think that Miranda draws strength from his early life-struggle, a feeling that he has been through things that set him apart from other fighters.
Although Miranda is just a year older than Pavlik I think that some people might see this as a man against boy type of fight. Miranda just looks so tough, so menacing, so ready to fight.
Miranda can be hurt, though. We have seen it in at least three of his fights, starting in October, 2005, when he briefly grabbed the top rope to steady himself after being hit on the chin by Sherwin Davis in the second round — but he knocked out his lanky opponent in the very next round.
Howard Eastman wobbled Miranda with a right hand late in the sixth round — only to get caught and stopped in the seventh.
In his most recent fight, of course, Miranda was dropped by a left hook from Allan Green in the eighth round although, once again, he came back strongly, knocking down his previously undefeated opponent twice in the last round and coming very close to knocking him out.
If Pavlik can hit Miranda he can get him in trouble, but can he keep him in trouble? Miranda has great powers of recovery. He has a quality that I particularly like in a fighter, which is the ability to rally quickly from adversity and turn the tables on the fighter who has just nailed him with a telling blow, the attitude of: “OK, that was yours — here comes mine.”
I think that Miranda’s boxing ability has improved under his Puerto Rican trainer, Jose Bonilla. He is more patient now, using a good, stiff jab to make openings for the right hand, although his left hook is a lethal weapon, too — as Howard Eastman discovered in the seventh round. No one has ever buckled Eastman the way that Miranda did.
Yet there is a lot to like with Pavlik, too. He is capable of firing off impressive combinations. When he is in full flow he probably throws punches in greater volume than any other middleweight. Like Miranda he has the instincts of a fighter. Down from a left hook in the first round against Fulgencio Zuniga, he came back to win seven of the next eight rounds on all three judges’ scorecards before the fight was stopped at the end of the ninth due to the Colombian’s cuts. The Mexican Zertuche was throwing some bombs in the first couple of rounds but after that it was all Pavlik — I had expected him to win that fight but not to outclass his man before knocking him spark out in the eighth round.
On Saturday, Pavlik is on the biggest stage of hs career. He seems to be mentally ready, apparently unmoved by the war of nerves that Miranda wages with his borderline-Ricardo Mayorga line of trash-talking. His manager, Cameron Dunkin, tells me that Pavlik is looking forward to the fight. “It’s a dangerous fight but I have faith in my guy,” Dunkin said. “He’s a natural athlete and much stronger than people think he is. We know that Kelly can’t start slow in this fight. We want to get him good and warmed up [in the dressing room] so he’s ready to go. After the first two rounds we feel this will be Kelly’s fight.”
In Miranda’s camp they feel that they have the uncrowned champion, that anywhere but in Germany the fight with Abraham would have been stopped due to the German-Armenian’s grotesquely swollen jaw (not to mention their well-chronicled complaints about the refereeing and scoring of the contest). They feel it is inevitable that Miranda will become champion and that Jermain Taylor is on borrowed time (Saturday’s fight is to decide Taylor’s WBC mandatory challenger).
I think that Miranda’s camp could well be right about him becoming champion, but I am not sure that his time is now. I just get the impression that Miranda is still developing as a fighter, that the best is yet to come. Pavlik, I think, is in the right time and place to win this fight. I believe Pavlik has the boxing ability to survive if he gets wobbled — his “Ghost” nickname comes from elusiveness as an amateur — and he surely has the hitting power at least to get Miranda’s respect.
If each is mindful of the other’s punching power it could be a longer fight than perhaps generally expected; if the fighters come out to impose their respective wills it will most likely be over inside eight rounds one way or the other — we will not know until battle is joined.
There is always the possibility that Miranda will just be too much of an irresistible force — and if anyone gets caught cold in the early stages it will more likely be Pavlik than the Colombian. Yet as much as I respect Miranda, I have the feeling that Pavlik possesses the right blend of talent, speed, heart and punching power to upset the odds
Comment