Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor (27-0-1, 17 KO's) puts his WBC Middleweight Championship up for grabs against Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik (31-0, 28 KO's) Saturday night September 29 at Caesars Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Taylor's Uninspired Performances
While winning a world title belt may have been the answer to Taylor's childhood dreams, the pressure to look like a champion in the ring has hung over the Arkansas native like the 'Sword of Damocles'. After wresting the championship from likely first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee Bernard Hopkins with a controversial decision, Taylor turned in what many consider an uninspired performance in a rematch with Hopkins followed monotonous decisions over Winky Wright, Kassim Ouma, and Cory Spinks.
Instead of the good-looking, well behaved fighter becoming a star, ala Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya, Taylor's shine has dulled over the last two years. He needs an exciting fight, even in a loss, to recapture his appeal. If boxing fans think he sleepwalks through the Pavlik fight, win or lose, he may lose them forever.
2000 Olympic Medalist
As a successful amateur, a 2000 Olympic Bronze Medalist, and rising professional prospect, Jermain's athleticism and aggression helped to cover a multitude of boxing sins: dropping his left after jabbing and backing straight up to avoid punches, being the more grievous errors. That aggression seemed to evaporate after he got nailed by a Hopkins right in the tenth round of their first fight. Since then, Taylor has been reluctant to engage, even against pillow punching junior middleweight Cory Spinks.
Pavlik Comes to Fight
Kelly Pavlik, on the other hand, has no problem being aggressive and always comes to fight. He earned his title shot by bulldozing the heavy-handed Edison Miranda with a seventh round TKO last May in a championship eliminator. From the opening bell, both men traded bombs, though as the fight progressed, Pavlik's superior defense and straighter punches foreshadowed the result.
Taylor Talks Tough on Conference Call
On a media conference call with Suite101 participating, Taylor made it clear that he wasn't impressed with the Youngstown, Ohio fighter.
"I feel confident. I've watched tape and I'm supposed to say he's a good fighter and he's not," said Taylor. "I don't see it. I don't see him doing nothing. The only thing I see good that he does is that he's a strong fighter. Other than that, nothing."
A Clash of Tall Middleweights
At 6'1" Taylor is tall for a middleweight and his size has made the division's 160 lb limit a difficult test all its own. While Taylor is tall for a middleweight, Pavlik, at 6'3" is sniffing the ozone. Should Pavlik win the fight, a rematch clause in the contract stipulates a 168 lb return bout.
Taylor More Experienced
Pavlik is certainly the hardest punching fighter the champion has faced to this point, but while Taylor may have put his "bad intentions" on hold lately, there is no denying that his has been the more experienced opposition with his last four bouts being against current or former world champions, two of which, Hopkins and Wright, are headed to Canastota.
The fight card will be televised by HBO at 10:15 pm Eastern Time. The undercard features welterweight prospect Andre Berto vs. David Estrada
Statistics: BoxRec.com
