This Would Be 1 of the BETTER Action Fights of All Time... So Much HARD Leather would Be Exchanged, BOTH Men would Likely Require a Hospital Visit Afterwards... For as HARD as Nigel Benn Fought, He was More VULNERABLE than Pavlik, in REED's Opinion...For All of Pavlik's Athletic & Defensive Deficits, he was NEVER Stopped, Something Nigel Benn CAN'T Claim...Moreso, Pavlik Found Himself in a Few WARS in his Career & WON them All... The Blueprint for Beating Kelly Pavlik was Via SCHOOLING Him, Not OutMANNING Him...REED Doesn't Know that Kelly Pavlik was BETTER than Nigel Benn, Necessarily, but he Likes Pavlik to BEAT Benn, 6 or 7 Out of 10 Times@ 160... Pavlik NEVER Showed Himself to Be Much @ '68, However, so Benn Probably Gets Him 6 Out of 10 @ the Higher Weight... REED:mj:
I think Eubank would school Pavlik. Benn? More of a 50/50 fight with Benn being more likely to win a decision or get stopped.
Yeah, REED Could See Eubank Schooling Pavlik as Well... Pavlik was a MUSCLE MEMORY Fighter...The CLASSIC "1-2" Guy....For Better or Worse, he Attempted to Execute What he was TAUGHT, Win, Lose or Draw, Even when it Failed Him...He MOVED Forward, JABBED 1st & THREW the Right Hand Behind It... Once INSIDE, he Instinctively Punched @ OPENINGS... But Pavlik WASN'T Much of a THINKER in the Ring...SUPERIOR Thinkers like BHop & Sergio Martinez Beat Him DECISIVELY...Chris Eubank Would MINDFUCK Pavlik as Well... REED:mj:
Eubank actually wasn't that bright at all. In fact, I'd say Eubank's BIGGEST flaw was his relatively low ring IQ. Having said that, he'd outbox Pavlik on his ability alone. I think Pavlik would have his moments though. Eubank was no virtuoso. He thought he was, but he wasn't.
Eubank was kind of odd. There was a clip of him hitting the bag whilst Lennox Lewis coached him, and he was showing him how he "coiled" into punches. Lewis was like "that's cool and all but why are you throwing punches from all the way back there? You can't get any power into it". Eubank was hesitant but gave it a go from close range and it was obvious the punches were coming with much more force. Eubank had a look on his face like "shit, if only I'd realised that when I was actually fighting" ::. So yeah, I get what X is saying about his boxing IQ, still, he had a weird style and it worked for him.
Good fight. Someone's winning inside the distance. Smart pick is Benn, but it could just as easily be Pavlik for the reasons REED stated.
Yup, I saw that clip too. Lummox had to teach Eubank how to properly throw punches like 10 years after Eubank was fuckin retired! Eubank did have a style that worked for him, and he would beat Pavlik, but not because of his ring IQ. He was just a bit too talented for Pavlik. Had enough power to hurt Pav and keep him off, and he had a good enough chin to handle Pav's power. Against a great technician like McCallum, Hopkins, or Toney, Eubank's lack of IQ would have been exposed big time. And it's pretty well known that Eubank would wanted no parts of Nunn in the early 90's, and no parts of Jones in the mid 90's. He was a good fighter, who knew his limitations, even though he talked a good game.
