:boxing: Pavlik KO's Near KO Winner Taylor!

Kelly Pavlik stepped into the ring looking to dethrone middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. Instead, "The Ghost" nearly got exorcised out of Atlantic City.

The contentious pre-fight glove touch between both fighters proved to be a prelude to what would follow. Round 1 found Taylor going after Pavlik with fiery aggression, throwing pointed, hard shots at him with a sort of furor seldom seen in other beginnings. The challenger exchanged punches as well, but picked more of his spots and timing in doing so. The pace and intensity shown was electrifying and a big surprise even from those expecting a brutal slugfest from the start. This carried over into a near-fateful second round, as Pavlik begun to settle down and flick off his jabs and straight punches, and succeeded in cornering Taylor. He got far too comfortable with the champion, as Taylor caught him unguarded with a very good combination of shots that leveled him. Pavlik barely got back up and had an even worse time staying upright for the final minute of the round as Taylor pressured him and had a few close attempts at finishing the job (though the action seemed to take a bit out of him, as well). Draping over "Bad Intentions" (ever apt the nickname), Pavlik made it out and into the third, where he was still clearly rebuilding himself back, while Taylor was fresher in a slower yet still very active round. The trend continued through the fifth in a close fight that had rounds that could be argued for either fighter. A shift occurred in that round into the sixth, as Pavlik's second wind kicked in and Taylor slowly lost energy, getting hit more easily, but remaining as game as before. The challenger's seemingly unwise decision of focusing on the champion's head appeared to greatly pay off in the seventh round, as a number of prime conditions came together--Taylor in a corner, open, and a successive combo of jabs and right hands-- to lead to the referee putting a halt to the match, with Taylor slumping to the mat after getting caught by the third or so big punch. Gracious and understanding from their respective sides of the outcome, both thought that they themselves were losing the fight, undoubtedly playing a role in motivating them to a memorable, possibly classic, match that may happen again should the rematch clause be activated.


P.S.: Wow, I was nearly right with the 8th round Pavlik KO, but in reality, I was pretty far off. I had no idea that Pavlik would take him out with the way he did (I was thinking more along the lines of a knockdown or two before a KO) and was very close to being wrong with his venture into KTFO territory in the 2nd (it was definite possibility, but it was a shocking moment to behold regardless)...Said round messed both fighters up, as Pavlik was taken out of his game and Taylor had to expend more energy than he was used to so early in a fight. The new champion would have most likely had an easier route if he didn't get careless (hard to believe he got up and stayed up, period)...A rematch should prove interesting, though with similar end results...