Looks like Pavlik Taylor rematch is going to happen.

[El Gamo]

Pavlik wins this fight regardless of the weight for me. He'll KO JT earlier this time. That was the best we have seen from JT and he was KTFO. What can he improve? His stamina? Still won't match Kelly's. The only problem for Pavlik is whether he goes back to 160 after the fight. There are some decent fights out there but I don't think he will. If he beats JT again,he could fight the winner of Kessler v JC which would be an uber mega fight imo!

I'd just as soon see Pavlik stay at 160 for a little while. I mean, the guy just got the damn belt a month ago, and everyone is talking about him moving up. I may be in the minority here, but I'd still love to see an Alan Greene/Pavlik fight. I know he got bested by Miranda, but it was obvious he wasn't on station that night with all the medical problems. I still say he can give Pavlik bad fits, but regardless I'd love to see that fight. If Kelly moves up I don't want it to be for Joe or Mikkel, not at 1st, but a definate fight with Andrade. What a war for as long as it lasted. I want to see someone who can k.o. Librado{kind of}.

WTF?! Why do you want to see Librado get KTFO?! I agree Kelly has only just got the belt but look at it this way,168 is easier to make and there are more names there to fight than at 160 imo. And sorry but I have no interest in seeing Allan Green fight Pavlik lol. I do agree that he should take a warm up at 168 before going into a mega fight.

[LEGION]

Pavlik wins this fight regardless of the weight for me. He'll KO JT earlier this time. That was the best we have seen from JT and he was KTFO. What can he improve? His stamina? Still won't match Kelly's. The only problem for Pavlik is whether he goes back to 160 after the fight. There are some decent fights out there but I don't think he will. If he beats JT again,he could fight the winner of Kessler v JC which would be an uber mega fight imo!

I'd just as soon see Pavlik stay at 160 for a little while. I mean, the guy just got the damn belt a month ago, and everyone is talking about him moving up. I may be in the minority here, but I'd still love to see an Alan Greene/Pavlik fight. I know he got bested by Miranda, but it was obvious he wasn't on station that night with all the medical problems. I still say he can give Pavlik bad fits, but regardless I'd love to see that fight. If Kelly moves up I don't want it to be for Joe or Mikkel, not at 1st, but a definate fight with Andrade. What a war for as long as it lasted. I want to see someone who can k.o. Librado{kind of}.

WTF?! Why do you want to see Librado get KTFO?! I agree Kelly has only just got the belt but look at it this way,168 is easier to make and there are more names there to fight than at 160 imo. And sorry but I have no interest in seeing Allan Green fight Pavlik lol. I do agree that he should take a warm up at 168 before going into a mega fight.

Lol, I really DON'T want to see Andrade get knocked out so much as I'd like to see the guy who can do it... Does that make sense bro' I love Librado, and whoever fights that dude better pack a lunch And yeah, the bigger names for Kelly are at 168, and he will at least look better at that weight. He looks like a homeless skinhead that loves to indulge in meth marathons

[SweetPea]

Dan Rafael of ESPN is reporting this too.

I think it's a bad move for Taylor. He needs to go back to the drawing board and re-establish himself. Guys who get knocked out in the first fight usually get KO'd in the immediate rematch too.

[zhubin]

Taylor has the power to KO Pavlik and he has the skill/speed to out box him. But does he have the discipline (not going all out too soon, fighting smart using his better skills and speed) and stamina to win? That is the big question. I think it will be a great fight. But Jermain really needs to relax in the ring.

[Pugilistic]

if taylor fights smarter like improving his defence and to stop backing up into the ropes and corners then he could beat pavlik but i don't think he will. i think pavlik ko's him again but later than round 7.

[Unknowndonor]

Taylor can hurt Pavlik, and has the tools to beat him, but after suffering a KO, and having training, and trainer issues, I'm not so sure jumping right back into a rematch is his best option. But, we'll see. I picked Taylor to win the first fight, but I have to say I am picking my fellow Ohio boy this time. Taylor should make adjustments, but I see him trying to be more defensive, and he will eventually get walked down.

[Deanrw]

if you go to http://jermaintaylor.com and scroll down, you will find this tidbit:

"It is likely that when the rematch takes place it will again be a 160-pound title fight, and not at a 166-pound catchweight as originally written in the contract.

When the contract was signed, Taylor believed he would no longer be fighting at middleweight if a rematch took place. However, because he had such little problem making 160 pounds this time around, it appears he might be able to stay in the middleweight division, after all."

[Myk_Myk]

I may be in the minority here, but I'd still love to see an Alan Greene/Pavlik fight. I know he got bested by Miranda, but it was obvious he wasn't on station that night with all the medical problems. I still say he can give Pavlik bad fits, but regardless I'd love to see that fight.

Allen Greene is a SM, he just moved down for the Miranda fight.

As for Pavlik moving up, I bet he'd stay if it wasn't for the rematch clause.

I found the whole 166 thing puzzling before and it still puzzles me. Is JT really having that much trouble making 160? Plus, does he really have no interest in the belts? I mean win or lose, if the fight takes place at 166, Pavlik keeps the belts, right? Edit: Just saw your post Deanrw. Thanks that makes more sense, and I wondered if that was possible.

I've always thought that Emanuel Stewart was an ATG trainer, but I think it's apparent that he mismanaged the psychological aspects his charge this time.

I remember before Cintron fought Matthysse, Stewart seemed so honest, saying how it would be a tough fight for Kermit, but that he thought he could put it out with his more polished skills and preparation. I thought then that he wasn't doing the best job of building his fighter up, but the results speak for themselves. Maybe it helped Cintron keep his eyes open to avoid getting hit with anything stupid.

For the Taylor Pavlik fight he blew all that smoke that we all know about, hoping to build up JT, and break down Pavlik psychologically. However it was so transparent, that everyone knew Stewart was really worried, and I think it had the opposite of the intended effect on both fighters.

Then at the post-fight press conference, it was back to brutal honesty. I don't see how Taylor can have any trust in Manny now, and get the psychological boost he needs now more than ever in this rematch after a brutal KO loss.

I thought Taylor's best chances in the first fight would be to control Pavlik with his jab and use his hand speed and more polished skills. He was able to have some success with the later two, but Pavlik took full advantage of his reach and actually got the better of JT with his own jab.

To me, Taylor had the most success counter punching, and that may be what he has to rely on this time. The problem is it will be hard to win a decision against a fighter with the output of Pavlik, by relying on counters. If he goes for the bum rush KO, I just don't think it will happen, or he might be the one to get caught. If he counter punches effectively, uses some patience, and keeps the right distance if he hurts Pavlik, JT might have a chance at the KO.

I have to go with a mid-round KO for Pavlik on this one.

[No Contest]

I'm a lot happier to see Taylor/Pavlik 2 than Duddy/Pavlik.
John isn't ready, by a long shot.
Last Saturday night we saw him box a poor opponent of Kelly's height and he had an awkward if not unsuccesful 1st round.(he then succeded in obliterating Prince AAron in the 2nd)
Nonetheless, Duddy needs to learn a lot before even dreaming of Challenging the top dogs and a fight with another top level contender is extremely important in my view

Yeah I hate to say it but he didnt look stellar, he was gettin hit by Prince Arron's right too easy. He's gonna need to work on getting inside more effectively before facing Pavlik. I'd say about 2 or 3 more fights until he's on that level. Thats if he steps up oppositon in each fight.

[LEGION]

Good post Myk, CC. Yeah, I don't know how much blame to put on Manny. JT has to be difficult to get through to. It felt before the fight he was being superficial with JT in regards to the abilities of Pavlik and probably did more damage than good. They should have paid more attention to Pavlik's display against Miranda. I think Manny gave JT the wrong advice at times in the fight, but wonder if he did it because he could see JT was becoming lax and starting to go to the ropes more and was forgetting those "5000" jabs he said he would throw. Seemed maybe Manny was trying to motivate him to do something, instead of getting more complacent. Who knows Like I said, whoever the trainer is, I think most of JT's problems can only be managed internally by JT himself; the tenseness, forgetting his jab, getting put to the ropes too much, pride{which is a big one I think}. JT has everything, just not the right mindset, similar to Judah IMO.

[LeftHookToTheBody]

I have no idea how anyone can say Taylor does not have a very good shot at winning the rematch. He very nearly put Pavlik away in the second round. And it wasn't just the judges who had Taylor ahead going into the seventh; several ringside observers had him leading as well. I had it 3-3 with Taylor up a point due to the knockdown. The key for Taylor will be not to load up on his punches so much...that is why he runs out of stamina. When he boxed Kelly he was winning the fight. If he commits to that this go round, he could absolutely win. Anyone counting him out is just plain wrong.

[Myk_Myk]

Good post Myk, CC. Yeah, I don't know how much blame to put on Manny. JT has to be difficult to get through to. It felt before the fight he was being superficial with JT in regards to the abilities of Pavlik and probably did more damage than good. They should have paid more attention to Pavlik's display against Miranda. I think Manny gave JT the wrong advice at times in the fight, but wonder if he did it because he could see JT was becoming lax and starting to go to the ropes more and was forgetting those "5000" jabs he said he would throw. Seemed maybe Manny was trying to motivate him to do something, instead of getting more complacent. Who knows Like I said, whoever the trainer is, I think most of JT's problems can only be managed internally by JT himself; the tenseness, forgetting his jab, getting put to the ropes too much, pride{which is a big one I think}. JT has everything, just not the right mindset, similar to Judah IMO.

Thanks, back at ya!

Yeah, I suppose ultimately it's the fighter in the ring. Still...

As far as the jabs go, I really think Pavlik deserves credit for taking that away from JT. Still JT was boxing successfully with the counter punching.

LeftHook, I would feel much better about Taylors chances if he had a little more time and at least a fight in between. I still think he can win though, if as you say he doesn't try to force things and boxes effectively, and as LEGION says relaxes more. I just think he is the one with the bigger mountain to climb.

[dcR-Reckless]

Judging from their first fight, Jermain can "easily" win if he has the stamina to box for 12 whole rounds. Too bad he doesn't

[Violent Demise]

It's the smart move for Taylor. A fight with Kessler or Calzaghe is not as big as before cuz of his recent loss. In order to change that he needs a big win. Avenging his loss would be key to him getting big fights. Plus he knows Pavlik is a very winnable fight for him. He knows he can hurt Pavlik.

[smashup]

Yeah but Kelly knows he can take him down plus that was Taylor at his best imo!!
How can Taylor reajust his style...? He can't can he,i mean what can he do differently to keep Pavlick away?
Pavlick will be the one to reajust and hammer him to the floor even quicker
NO WAY Taylor can beat him and he knows it,i think Pavlick will be the one forcing the pace from the off in Feb and even expect a win within 3 to 4 rounds.