“Pavlik To Be Even Stronger At 166 lbs” - Steward

According to the Boston Herald, Emanuel Steward, the former trainer for WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, says that Pavlik will be even stronger at 166 lbs than he was at 160 lbs for Kelly’s rematch with former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (27-1, 17 KOs) on February 16th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The new weight of 166 lbs was written into the rematch contract, which was initiated by Taylor’s people who perhaps feel that he’ll be stronger at that weight and won’t have to strip down to 160.

Steward said that Taylor’s new management made a mistake of having the fight take place at the higher weight of 166 lbs, because it will benifit Pavlik more than Taylor, mainly because Pavlik - the taller fighter at 6′2″ - has struggled even more than Taylor in stripping down to 160, and will be that much stronger at the higher weight level.

Taylor, 29, lost his middleweight titles to Pavlik on September 29th, when Pavlik stopped Taylor in the 7th round. The fight was close at the time of the stoppage, with Pavlik having been knocked down in the 2nd. However, Pavlik began coming on in the 6th round, landing huge bombs that shook Taylor and eventually stopped him. Taylor’s trainer at the time Emanuel Steward - recently replaced by Ozell Nelson - was against an immediate rematch with Pavlik. Taylor, though, ignored Steward’s advice and insisted on an immediate rematch. Shortly thereafter, Steward stepped down as trainer for Taylor.