Judges agreed Pavlik won majority of rounds

By JOHN BASSETTI

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

LAS VEGAS — Trying to make a fair assessment of Saturday’s Pavlik-Taylor middleweight rematch is as difficult as choosing a slot machine that’s ready to spit out thousands.

But, is one needed when the judges have ruled and your check’s in hand?

Judge Patricia Morse-Jarman gave Pavlik the first three rounds, plus the eighth, ninth, 11th and 12th.

Dave Moretti gave Pavlik one, four, five, then 7 through 12.

Glenn Trowbridge had Pavlik on top in one, three, five, six, seven, then the last three.

Aside from the men in the ring, those judging the fight and counting the punches over 12 rounds had the busiest and most intense duty inside the MGM Grand Arena before 9,709 spectators who ranged from well-dressed and sober to disheveled and inebriated.

But those peanut- and popcorn-eating fans were vocal in their approval or disapproval of the outcome.

An interesting aspect is the fact that Pavlik connected on only 32 percent of his 845 total punches thrown to Taylor’s 39 percent of 456.

The number for those that really count — the power punches — were 34 percent Pavlik (123-of-361) to Taylor’s 46 percent (76-of-164).

To punctuate the punch tally, throw in the jabs — Pavlik’s 30 percent to Taylor’s 35.

Of course, intangibles such as stamina must be figured into the equation to arrive at a comfortable conclusion.

The unbeaten Pavlik (33-0) acknowledged that Taylor’s hard right hand in the sixth round came over the top and it hit him, but the champion minimized it by saying it was only one or two punches a round.

“Consider that there are three minutes in a round,” Pavlik said to accent the perception that Taylor did damage.

On the flip side, Pavlik said some of his right-handed shots on the inside were landing.

“I think that made a big difference,” he said of the toll inflicted on the native of Little Rock, Ark.

After tagging Taylor (27-2-1) in the first round with an overhand right, he came back in the second round and made some smart moves and started countering.

“Inches and angles is what he was doing,” Pavlik said in describing the bobbing and weaving. “Inches and angles is the key to boxing and that’s all Jermain Taylor was doing. But when we started doing our inches and angles, you see what happened.”

Another problem Taylor presented was a spinning and counter maneuver.

“In the middle rounds, he was feinting nice and I was throwing jabs and coming over the top and catching it with his jab,” Pavlik said. “Then we started our feints and that opened it up in the later rounds.”

Pavlik said the seventh round was the turning point.

“He hit me a couple of times, but never really hurt me at all,” Pavlik said. “There was that one punch [overhand right in the sixth] that woke me up, but that was about it.”

Kelly, who went 12 rounds for the first time in his career, said it didn’t bother him because he’s always in great shape.

“I’m always throwing a lot of punches, but it [going 12] does play in your head and to do it against somebody like Taylor is great.”

Pavlik believes Taylor redeemed himself with his showing Saturday.

“Just by taking the fight, he redeemed himself.”

About a possible match against John Duddy, Pavlik said: “He’s an up and coming fighter who poses a little more danger because he is younger and in his prime. But whoever they throw out there, I’m ready to go.”

Felix Trinidad is another name in the hopper.

Trainer Jack Loew said he expected Taylor to have a lot more movement and circle because he wanted to go the distance.

“We said one of two things were going to happen: One, Jermain was going to come out and try to knock us out right away because I thought he was going to live off that second round, or, two, right before the fight I told Kelly, ‘Don’t be surprised if this kid tries to carry you for the 12 rounds.’

“He boxed well and he did a lot of spinning,” Loew said. “He did not want to get caught on the ropes. He did not want to get into a slugfest with Kelly.”

How much was Pavlik hurt?

“No more than Jermain,” Loew said. “This is a rough sport, Kelly knows what he’s in for every night he goes in. We didn’t get no gimme fight. We fought Jermain Taylor, the former middleweight champ of the world. No, we knew what we were in for.”

Did Loew have any doubt about the outcome?

“Not after the eighth round,” the trainer said.

The Pavlik camp wasn’t frustrated, but it did stress patience.

“I kept telling Kelly to be patient, be patient. The minute we get Jermain going backwards; look at the punch stats.

“I thought we were aggressive and threw a lot of punches and we backed him up. That was our game plan. When Jermain Taylor comes forward he fights. He’s a very good boxer, still. He’s a great athlete. When he comes forward, that’s his best, but you ain’t going to come forward with this kid [Pavlik] for 12 rounds.”

What did Pavlik show Loew?

“That we could go 12 strong rounds with a very good fighter — a kid still very capable of winning a middleweight championship or a championship of the world. I thought we beat a quality, quality fighter.”

bassetti@vindy.com