Fighters gain weight on their chins more than their fists. As fighters move up in weight, their power increases some. Physics assures that. But their ability to absorb punches generally grows disproportionately to the weight, and power, they gain.
Boxing has maxims that capture this idea. “He didn’t take his power with him,” or, “His legs were shot from making weight.” There are others. But for now, let’s leave it like so: Weight goes on, or comes off, a fighter’s chin more than his fists.
Evidence of this came Saturday, when Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor fought a 166-pound rematch of their middleweight championship fight. The six pounds each was allowed to gain, though neither did (both weighed 164), was the largest reason neither man visited the blue mat in their rematch – a trip both made in the first fight. Pavlik would prevail by unanimous decision scores of 117-111, 115-113 and 116-112.
My scorecard agreed, 116-112. I had Rounds 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 for Pavlik. Rounds 2, 5, 6 and 10 went to Taylor. But Rounds 3 and 8 were close, and though I scored both for Pavlik, I wouldn’t argue with a scorer who saw them for Taylor.
After the fight both men were disappointed. Each wanted the fight to end with a knockout. Pavlik especially. But part of their disappointment was also that, unlike in their first match, both guys had done what their corners told them to do. Both faithfully believed that if they followed their trainers’ blueprints, they’d get the results Ozell and Jack promised.
Ozell Nelson, who replaced Emanuel Steward as Taylor’s trainer, emphasized conditioning and defense in Taylor’s training camp. Jack Loew, the only trainer Pavlik has ever had, wanted careful pressure from the middleweight champion. Let’s take a look at the thoughts these trainers came up with.
Taylor’s game plan went like this: I will keep my lead hand higher. I will finish Pavlik if I hurt him. I’m going to try to out-jab him. I’m going to try to conserve my strength. I will not go to the ropes. I will not be knocked out.
The result promised to Taylor if he followed this plan was a decision victory. Remember, Taylor had never lost a decision – and there had been at least three fights in which he could have. The logic in his corner Saturday was that if Taylor stayed active enough to keep Pavlik from hurting him, he’d also do enough to win a majority of rounds.
To his credit, Taylor did what he was told. He consistently kept his left hand above his waist – no longer searching for a pocket on the thigh of his trunks. He also reduced Pavlik’s activity by countering Pavlik’s jab. He hit Pavlik hard. And he showed great determination when he was hurt and fatigued in the 11th round.
But Taylor wasn’t busy enough to earn a decision. Whenever he wasn’t punching, he was obviously focused on not being stopped. Nelson, who thinks of Taylor as his charge in every way, abetted this approach: Knockout victory if possible, decision victory if not – but anything before a knockout loss.
Pavlik’s game plan went like this: I will respect Taylor’s power. I will punch more than he does. I’m going to try to stop him early with a right cross. I’m going to try to make him wilt, otherwise. I will not be outworked. I will not lose.
What Pavlik and Loew expected from this game plan was a knockout victory. Probably early, definitely late. They knew the excitable Taylor would expend as much energy while waiting to be punched as he would while punching. They would march forward, throwing all the way, and take Taylor’s consciousness before the final bell.
No they wouldn’t. For all his pre-fight talk about conditioning, Taylor had spent his training camp remembering how to protect himself from straight punches. He knew Pavlik couldn’t hurt him with a sweeping left hook – always a setup punch for Pavlik – and so Taylor practiced covering his face completely and taking a step backwards.
Unable to locate Taylor at the end of his right cross, Pavlik then had to continue pushing the pace of the fight. In the closing rounds he even adopted the unusual, and somewhat perilous, tack of throwing body punches. To do this, he lowered his hands and left his chin open to the very punches that got him in trouble in the first fight – Taylor’s discus hooks.
But this returns us to the last line of each man’s game plan. Taylor vowed, I will not be knocked out. Pavlik vowed, I will not lose. In the closing rounds, Pavlik was willing to be knocked out while trying to win. Taylor was willing to lose by decision while ensuring he wasn’t knocked out.
Pavlik won and deserves much credit. But he also needs to heed promoter Top Rank and return to middleweight. At 160 pounds, Pavlik is a force of nature. He has the sort of persistence and strength that ruins others’ careers. Since the end of 2004, Pavlik is 11-0 with nine knockouts. But how much did he weigh against the two opponents he didn’t knock out? 164.
There are plenty of fights, and history, for Pavlik to make at middleweight. At 160 pounds he’s a favorite against any man. But he is not yet ready for 168 pounds and Mikkel Kessler or Joe Calzaghe.
And Taylor never will be. Taylor doesn’t have the power to hurt the best super-middleweights. And with Pavlik routinely catching him at 164 pounds, Taylor may not have the quickness to evade Kessler’s right hand or Calzaghe’s relentlessness.
Jermain Taylor is a man of character and courage. He’s done enough in boxing. It’s not wrong to ask him to retire and give our sport just one semi-happy ending.
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