At first I thought it was a case of Taylor simply getting caught with a couple of great right hands and then being taken out. I thought it was a close fight that Kelly had the slight upper hand and Taylor was taking Kelly's shots well. As I've watched it again, I wonder how cumulative it was. Although Taylor was taking the shots, he was eating his share of vicious right hands throughout the fight. Although he didn't go down or seem seriously hurt, he did a couple of times sort of stop like he was stunned/hurt, then he'd go back to the ropes or whatever and cover up, then rally back. On the punches that did Taylor in, Pavlik did seem to blind Taylor with the jab and then landed the right that Taylor didn't see coming. The first jab-right initially hurt Taylor, the second jab-right combo REALLY messed Taylor up, but I'm still not sure if it was a case of Taylor getting hit with blind right hands that really did it, or simply too much cumulative effects of the whole fight. Thoughts?
I think he stunned Taylor a bit with the first jab/right hand he threw and then really sat down on the next straight right. Once Pavlik has you hurt, the last place you should go is to the corner. That was really the end. Pavlik is a great finisher.
i definitely agree it was due, at least in part, to an accumulation. Taylor was never - never - comfortable in the fight. he was constantly moving back, constantly eating jabs, and never allowed to rest. this approach worked against Wright (barely) since Wright isn't much of a puncher and is shorter. Taylor's best performances have been against guys like Hopkins who moved back and didn't press the issue, allowing Taylor to fight when he wanted, and not when he didn't. so i think it was Kelly's punches, mental fatigue and physical fatigue on the part of taylor, all culminating in Pavlik's ability to land as clean as he eventually did, and be able to short circuit Taylor and take him out.
We talked about this the morning after the fight, but it wasn't a one-punch KO by any means. Taylor handled Pavlik's shots fairly well when he saw them. The 1-2 Pavlik landed at center ring shortly before the KO sequence was key in Taylor's undoing. Pavlik appeared to have been caught off-guard by Taylor's reaction to those two shots. Pavlik clearly backed off, then stepped right to Jermain when he saw Jermain go to the ropes...that's when the blinding jab came in, followed by the right hand which essentially ended the fight. Taylor got caught with jabs throughout the fight. It was a long, hard, punishing jab which stiffens your back and throws your rthymn off. When Pavlik started to land that jab and you saw Taylor blind and flinching from it, it was only a matter of time before Pavlik threw harder right hands behind it.
Agreed...but Pavlik was also landing some long right hands in early rounds which contributed to the overall cumulative effect, no doubt about it. You could see Taylor freeze just a bit every time one of those landed. Peace.
