Yes, Taylor earned a lot of respect from me. I think he showed a good chin and decent heart - he took a ton of right hands from Pavlik and kept trying. I had Pavlik up by a round at the time of the stoppage, but it was a very close fight.
He seemed to make the mistake of trying to match Pavlik's punch output, which seemed to hurt him in the long run when, like usual, he ran out of gas after trying to put Pavlik away. I don't know if he could've done anything to change the outcome of the fight though, Pavlik was a man possessed Saturday night.
One more thing about Taylor, I actually - for the 1st time - found him exciting to watch. His skills, particularily his handspeed, are a lot more impressive than I thought they were. For a guy that seems pretty smart outside of the ring, he doesn't seem that bright inside the ring.