By Tim Williams: Ever since I found out about former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (27-1-1, 17 KOs) was planning on fighting a rematch with new middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (32-0, 29 KOs), I’ve thought that Taylor was either slightly deluded about his chances, or he had some secret weapon hidden up his sleeve, something that would almost guarantee him a win. Let’s hope for Taylor’s sake that he does have something that he does have some trick that will enable him to defeat Pavlik, because if he should lose a second time to him, it will possibly due damage to his boxing career.
That’s not to say that Taylor won’t still have opportunities for big fights, for as we’ve seen with Oscar De La Hoya, it hardly matters how many times that you lose, just as long as you mix in a win over former top fighter in between. Taylor, it seems, could do the same for himself by fighting someone like, say Roy Jones Jr.. Felix Trinidad or one of the other faded fighters on the senior circuit. The fans, most of whom only have a vague idea of who the champions are, would be totally in the dark about it, and likely see Taylor as still a champion.
Certainly, looking at it from Taylor’s perspective, I’d want to get revenge too if I’d been knocked out, particularly if it was the kind of humiliating KO that Taylor experienced in his 7th round TKO loss to Pavlik on September 29th. Having said all that, Taylor seems to have thrown caution to the wind, as if he was oblivious to what he’s going up against in facing Pavlik. I mean, not only is Pavlik younger, at 25 years-old, but he’s also more powerful and has better stamina than Taylor. Plus, Pavlik is still unbeaten, and doesn’t have the psychosocially (or neurological) baggage of having been knocked out in his last fight, like Taylor has.
Knowing all this, Taylor should have strongly considered taking a warm-up bout or three before taking on a top fighter like Pavlik. At least that way, Taylor could work on the finer problems with his game, for example, his poor conditioning. However, knowing him, he’d have problem destroyed all three badly over-matched opponents in the first 2-3 rounds, and thus get nothing from the tune-ups, other than a little older. The lack of a tune-up, however, could very well lead to Taylor’s undoing, because he it hasn’t been long enough time, in my view, for him to recover from his previous knockout. Though it wasn’t a total knockout, Taylor was badly hurt in the fight, enough so that he likely suffered some minor neurological problems. For that reason, Taylor had better hope that his stamina holds up, because if he wears out and stands directly in front of Pavlik like last time, it will be all over for Taylor by the 6th or 7th rounds again.
I’m hoping that Taylor has a backup plan for what he will decide to do if he loses, because a second loss may be a huge crushing blow for him mentally. I would certainly hope that he doesn’t attempt any more fights with Pavlik, for if he knocks him out again, this would seem to suggest that he has his number. I doubt seriously that Pavlik will waste his time again if he does beat Taylor, for there will be zero fan interest in a third bout, unless this Saturday’s fight has multiple knockdowns of each fighter. Minus a knockdown of Pavlik, I see no fan interest in a third bout between the two.
At that point, Taylor would do best to seek greener pastures elsewhere, perhaps against the aforementioned Trinidad or Jones. Welterweight Paul Williams, for WBO champion, would also be a potential fighter that Taylor could fight, in that Williams was recently soundly beaten by Carlos Quintana. Williams vs. Taylor would be very appealing fight, and maybe a fight that Taylor can win.