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I will say that in a rematch that Jermain Taylor could do better against Kelly Pavlik. The fact of it is, Taylor has problems within himself that caused him to lose how he did. Could he ever beat Pavlik? Sure. Will he ever beat Pavlik? No.
He obviously has the power to put Pavlik down, but the difference lies in his ability to keep him down. Taylor appeared too nervous, in fact, rather than a one-time affair, the fight really gave me the impression that that is a characteristic of Jermain’s.
Perhaps this is something addressable; Grant Hill said he had to relearn how to play basketball after a near career-ending injury. Evander Holyfield went into therapy before the rematch against Riddick Bowe in order to “believe” that he could beat him.
Dare I say Jermain has been done the biggest favor of his career so far by losing? He knows he did some things wrong during the loss to Pavlik. It’s just a matter of him sitting down and figuring those things out, then figuring out how to retool himself.
But that doesn’t mean he can ever beat Pavlik. Kelly could just be a better fighter, no matter what Taylor does. In the rematch against Winky Wright, Shane Mosley completely changed how he trained. He didn’t work with any weights, so his speed was improved, but Winky’s defense was much too good for him to make a dent and the end result was the same.
Taylor’s changing shouldn’t just be about beating Pavlik. It should be about making himself a better fighter and maybe the next time a Pavlik comes along, even in a losing effort, Taylor can acquit himself better.
Not that we have nothing but complaint in how he performed. Jermain moved better, displayed his speed better, had an idea what to do when he got backed up and did a decent job of backing Pavlik off him. He gave a better showing of himself better than he had in prior fights over the past two years. But where does he go from here?
Perhaps Emanuel Steward isn’t the trainer for him. Not that there’s anything wrong with the trainer, but some people just don’t connect well. Maybe eight pounds heavier will allow him to do the things he knows he’s supposed to be doing.
Or maybe Jermain is a little too focused on his family and should hang ’em up. No one could blame him if that were the case but he can still have a long and successful career ahead of him. But he has to fix Jermain Taylor the human being before he can fix Jermain Taylor the former world champ.
