Pavlik: Taylor will fade!
“I Won’t Be Fading in the Championship Rounds”

September 26, 2007

By David L. Hudson Jr.

Photo: Emily Harney

Undefeated #1 middleweight contender Kelly Pavlik says his superior conditioning will make the difference when he faces champion Jermain Taylor for the middleweight title on September 29th in the highly anticipated, HBO televised clash. “He fades in the championship rounds,” Pavlik says. “We’re not going to be fading in those rounds.”

Pavlik burst into the title picture with a spectacular demolition of Edison Miranda, who most thought would be Taylor’s future main threat in the division. Instead, Pavlik backed Miranda down and beat him to a pulp, earning the title shot in the process. “HBO had him go in as cannon fodder against Miranda,” says his Hall-of-Fame promoter Bob Arum,” “He shocked everybody but not us. We knew what he is capable of and we are confident that he is going to win on September 29.”

Taylor has dismissed Pavlik as a strong, but one-dimensional fighter who lacks the speed and skill to pose a major threat to his title. Pavlik remains unfazed by the lack of respect from the champion. “I love it when he says that,” Pavlik says. “Styles make fights. I had to be one-dimensional against Miranda. I’ll fight differently against Taylor, showing my speed, my head movement, different angles and other skills. It is more of an advantage for me if that is what he thinks.”

Pavlik says that Taylor must be able to withstand his pressure. “I’ll be throwing more than 90 punches per round,” he says. “We’ll see if he is able to withstand that heat. He’ll see a lot more movement, a lot of hand speed and a whole lot of punches.”

He dismisses the fact that Taylor defeated him in the amateurs. “That was a long time ago and I was a 17-year-old kid and he was 21-year-old man,” he recalls. “He won the fight but it wasn’t a blowout. As a matter of fact, it would have been a different story if it happened a couple years later when I was 19 or 20.”

Pavlik insists that it doesn’t bother him that opponents regularly underestimate him. Miranda and Bronko McKart did the same thing to their detriment. He hopes that Taylor underestimates him, but he is not underestimating Taylor.

But, Pavlik does expect to capture the middleweight title on September 29th and fulfill his lifelong dream. Tune in to HBO that night to see if he can upset the champion.

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David L. Hudson Jr, a feature writer for Fightnews, is the author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including Boxing’s Most Wanted: The Top Ten Book of Champs, Chumps and Punch-Drunk Palookas (2004) with Mike Fitzgerald. He resides in the Middle Tennessee area. Questions or comments? Click here.