Kelly Pavlik: "No Surprise if Roy Jones Beats Joe Calzaghe"

[Boofdatruth]

We will have to disagree on the first half of the fight, because while you claim to have seen Hopkins "boxing", I saw him taking it easy with only short bouts of activity, hoping to take advantage of Taylor down the stretch (which admittedly, after 7, he did). Your scoring is in question if you think he won even the first round, which you said earlier, as he only threw 12 punches in that round and landed four or five, while Taylor threw more and landed more, including the cleaner, harder shots. I just re-watched this, there is no way Hopkins takes that round.

While the decisions were controversial, you cannot reasonably argue that Hopkins was robbed in either fight since he did not do enough to set himself apart as the dominant fighter throughout the fight. If the judges had gone his way, you couldn't make a strong case that Taylor was robbed either. It was that type of fight.

Along those lines, I thought Taylor was clearly the more talented, dominant boxer in his second fight with Pavlik... WHEN HE BOXED. He was landing the cleaner, harder, more accurate shots most of the fight, I scored it pretty much even if not a round ahead for Taylor, but will not ***** about the decision that was handed down because it was close, and Taylor didn't do enough work to warrant any claim that he was robbed. It's with that mindset that I approach the Taylor/Hopkins fights, and I have to laugh whenever anyone claims that Taylor was gifted those decisions.

There are worse judgements every week in this sport; if you want a mark in the right-hand column, you've got to work for it. Which is exactly why Hopkins is very unlikely to win a decision against a busy Kelly Pavlik.

Man, Taylor didn't beat PAv in the rematch lol. Now that's funny lol. Hop was the champ against Taylor, and Taylor missed Hop with most of his punches. His punches looked like they landed, but they didn't. Hop came out of both fights without a mark on his face.

[Boofdatruth]

HBO is no dumber than the rest of us for their investment in Taylor, as surely they see the same things we fans saw (and see) - a young, likeable, gifted fighter.

At the time not as much was known about his questionable emotional state (for a fighter); over the last three years that has become more and more obvious.

But in the end, Taylor led them to their new (at least for the moment) golden boy.

Don't include me in that mix. I thought J.T was a nice guy, but he couldn't fight inside, and that is why I was never big on him. I did pick him to beat PAv, but PAv showed you how a fighter fights in and out. Pav made me a fan.

[dstew]

Man, Taylor didn't beat PAv in the rematch lol. Now that's funny lol. Hop was the champ against Taylor, and Taylor missed Hop with most of his punches. His punches looked like they landed, but they didn't. Hop came out of both fights without a mark on his face.

Hopkins never has a mark on his face, and while he's defense is good, you can't tell me he's never been hit before. Some guys don't mark up as easily, and Hopkins is one of them. The guy has more than 50 fights and is reputed to have never been cut for chrissakes; you can't use his face as a way to tell who won the fight, especially when looking at Taylor's face would tell you nothing more than Bernard cut him with a nasty headbutt.

And there's no arguing against "Taylor missed Hop with most of his punches;" that's a silly statement. Most fighters miss with most of their punches. But Taylor hit him clean multiple times in that fight. And when I say "clean" I mean both "flush" and "not holding him and punching him while his back was turned" or "not while holding his head down and punching him in the back of the head" which is more than you can say for Hopkins.

As for Pavlik/Taylor, I said the decision could have gone either way, and there are many who agree with me.

[dstew]

Don't include me in that mix. I thought J.T was a nice guy, but he couldn't fight inside, and that is why I was never big on him. I did pick him to beat PAv, but PAv showed you how a fighter fights in and out. Pav made me a fan.

Ok, you get an out.

I think most of us saw Taylor's flaws before they lost him any fights, but HBO didn't have many alternatives at the time. That and DiBella's **** is in their mouth.

[roundingace]

As for Pavlik/Taylor, I said the decision could have gone either way, and there are many who agree with me.

Like who? The ones who actually watched that fight, and almost ALL can cuncur, that Pav won that fight.

[daggum]

Like who? The ones who actually watched that fight, and almost ALL can cuncur, that Pav won that fight.

hes from little rock aka taylorland.

[kayjay]

Pavlik is the second best middleweight today, and should focus on challenging the best in his weight class

[roundingace]

Pavlik is the second best middleweight today, and should focus on challenging the best in his weight class

Little backwards there sir. AA will get his shot, but don't get it twisted, the MW king is Kelly Pavlik. I don't see any of the elites, Hopkins, Winky, JC (considering it) Kessler, etc. looking to land an AA fight.

[dstew]

Like who? The ones who actually watched that fight, and almost ALL can cuncur, that Pav won that fight.

It was reported that several reporters on press row had Taylor winning (Kieran Mulvaney at ESPN is one that comes to mind).

Here on boxingscene it's a minority opinion, but at a 2:1 ratio it's not at all insignificant:

http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/po...ts&pollid=7921

[roundingace]

115-113 , 117-111 , 116-112 - - - Tell me how that was a close fight? Or even close enough to debate.