Quote Originally Posted by Danny_G
That is a great question but I think only Taylor knows the answer to that one but..
One can only speculate and say maybe it was pride?
Taylor beat Pavlik in the Olympic trials of 2001. Taylor thought he was all that because he beat the LION of lions B-Hop. (IMO he did not beat B-Hop) anyway.. Maybe he thought he was not that hurt and thought he could shake it off. Had Taylor taken a knee, he would have shown weakness in a fight were he was supposedly dominating Pavlik, had him hurt, queering, out on his feet and down on the canvas in the second round.
I think Pride played a big factor. I am sure if he had to do it all over again, he would have taken the knee, who knows. I loved seeing Taylor laying in that corner like a garbage bag. That was joy, joy, joy.

I wear a suit! That makes me more of a champion than Kelly Pavlik.
"Jermain Taylor"

Although Taylor showed some heart, Kelly Pavlik showed tremendous heart and then some.



If you watch the fight again, you will see that when Kelly sees Taylor is hurt, Kelly shifts gears and lands one of two upper cuts that would seal the deal. The window of opportunity that Taylor had to take a knee was not long enough.

Who said Kelly was slow?

Fast enough to knock you out

Kelly reminds me of Cotto. You can hurt him but he comes back and taxes and waxes that azz.

Well said dude. I agree, if Kelly can do anything, he can finish an opponent very fast once he knows he's touched a chin real good. Taylor didn't have time to take a knee. Actually the very 1st shot that kind of stunned Taylor was out towards the middle of the ring, he looked kind of unsteady, so he should of taken a knee there 1st if anything. He should have, cause' Kelly knows how to finish fast and I think JT forgot that, or pride got him. I myself didn't like to see JT layed out, I have always personally been a fan of his. I felt for him down there, though I sure was glad PavMan won, and that was the only way Kelly could have won. I don't know about the rest of you, but before the fight I thought JT looked real nervous in the locker room. I've seen most of his fights and I never saw him looking nervous like last night. Maybe I saw it wrong, but he sure seemed apprehensive in the locker room and in the ring. I think nerves played more against him than anything and especially after Kelly survived that canvas check. He seemed in great shape but went to the ropes one too many times. If he really wants to get that belt back this k.o. is the best wake-up call for him. I think he'll be back stronger and better, but Kelly will learn from this fight too, so the rematch should be very interesting.