Pavlik KO's Taylor, takes belt in battle of unbeatens
30.09.2007 06:00
Sport and Travel
- Source: USA Today
ATLANTIC CITY — Kelly Pavlik shook off the effects of an early knockdown to score an electrifying knockout of Jermain Taylor and raised his arms in victory as the new middleweight champion of the world.
Pavlik, who looked ready to go in the second round after Taylor decked him with a barrage that was started by a big right hand, unleashed a big right of his own in the seventh round and the dethroned champion from Little Rock was unable to weather the storm. Taylor slumped to the canvas after absorbing a multi-punch pounding to the head. Referee Steve Smoger had barely waved off the fight and declared Pavlik the winner when the new champion's trainer Jack Loew leaped inside the ropes and began the celebration. The KO victory at 2:14 of the seventh round was Pavlik's 29th KO on his 32-0 record, while Taylor (27-1-1, 17 KOs) suffered the first defeat of his pro career and saw his title reign end after just four successful defenses. About 5,000 fans made the trip from Pavlik's hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, and were making plenty of noise before the fight that their man, nicknamed "the Ghost," would come through. As Taylor sat unable to get up in Pavlik's corner, the largely pro-Ghost crowd of 10,127 fans at Boardwalk Hall roared their approval while Taylor's fans looked stunned. "I thought I had him in the second round and I threw too many punches after I had him down," said Taylor, who led 58-55, 59-54 and 58-55 on the three judges scorecards, but let Pavlik take over with one sudden outburst. Taylor said he wants to take advantage of a rematch clause at a maximum of 164 pounds, four over the middleweight limit. He said he got tired trying to finish off what he started. "I thought I was losing the fight and I wasted a lot of energy trying to finish him off," Taylor, 29, added. "He's a big puncher. I can't believe I lost. Right now, it's back to the drawing board. I would like to fight him in my very first fight back." Pavlik, who lost a decision to Taylor in the 2000 Olympic Trials when he was 17 and Taylor was 21, had vowed coming into the fight that he would end Taylor's reign. But it didn't look probable after Taylor got him in early trouble. "I was hurt bad and I was really shaky," Pavlik, 25, said of the second-round knockdown. "But I told myself I was going to survive. Jack Loew said go back to double jab, and that's what I did." Pavlik had fought mostly unranked fighters, but earned a title shot after he KO'd highly-touted Columbian slugger Edison Miranda in May on the undercard of Taylor's split decision victory against Cory Spinks. Taylor had been criticized for his recent lackluster performances, including the one against Spinks. But after winning the title and the rematch against Bernard Hopkins in 2005, followed by facing three consecutive southpaws, Taylor saw Pavlik as the right-handed type of opponent that would be willing to mix it up and allow him to shine. Instead, the new champion ignored the pre-fight assessment from Emanuel Steward, Taylor's trainer, that he was in over his head. Pavlik proved he was the real deal. "Now I'm up there with all the other great Ohio champions," said Pavlik, naming Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, Greg Richardson and Harry Arroyo. "I'm very proud to be mentioned with them."
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