Welcome back Kelly Pavlik

[JazMerkin]

It isn't much, but the only thing Pavlik can take away from the Hopkins loss is that he never went down. He may have taken a beating but he had the heart to stand and deal with it for twelve rounds. That shows big-time chin and big-time heart.

I thought quite the opposite. It seemed to me that there were a number of points in the mid-rounds where Hopkins could have finished it, but I got the impression he was keeping him there to do a job on him in the last round like he did to Trinidad. I do think Pavlik showed a good chin and heart in his fights with Taylor, but if he watched the Hopkins fight, I think he would surely have seen those moments where B-Hop mugged at him rather than finish him. Hopkins also has a habit of leaving fighters never the same after they've been in the ring with him, even if they won a la Taylor, they never look quite as good in their subsequent showings.

I do think Lyle is a bit harsh on him though, Pavlik remains one of the hardest punchers in the sport & I think anyone who fights him would have to fight a supremely disciplined fight to beat him. There's only 3 guys from 154-175 that I could say with a great degree of certainty have the discipline to do that, Hopkins, Dawson and Ward. I think Abraham would also beat him because he's got an iron chin and equivalent power, but Pavlik remains good money against most of the others for me.