Home

From obscure whispers at the beginning of the year, Pavlik emerged to destroy Jose Zertuche (19-3-2) in eight rounds to win the NABF middleweight title, and not only did he proceed to brutally stop the dreaded, loud mouthed, trash talking and only once defeated by UD after breaking his opponent’s jaw Edison Miranda (28-1-0) in devastating fashion, he recovered from a knockdown and some ferocious head shots to discombobulate, break down, pound, and stop the tough WBO and WBC champ Jermain Taylor (27-0-1) trained by the legendary Emmanuel Steward dead cold, dropping him to the seat of his pants on the canvas in dazed befuddlement reminiscent of some of the bone crunching stoppages of the fifties.

Pavlik is undefeated in 32 fights, 29 of which have been by knockout, his story is also they most synonymous with they stories that boxing thrives on as he comes from the blue collar steel town of Youngstown Ohio, he lives a few blocks from home and is trained by the same coach who guided him through the amateurs all the way to the championship in similar fashion to the popular Rocky movie series.

So confident was he about his victory over Taylor that he trained at same gym for his successful championship fight instead of retreating to some fancy location to get into shape as some celebrity boxers now do. To make the story more scientifically sweet he is trained by a blue collar coach after a probable grueling day fixing driveways and handling other handy man type jobs. A complete combination that keeps everybody focused on the task at hand.

Pavlik also appears to be humble and he is white; a quality we have been craving for so he can draw his species back into the game, and this was certainly the case as I could get no pass for his championship challenge in Atlantic City, and his loyal fans journeyed to the arena all they way from Youngstown.

In 2008 I predict that he will brutalize Taylor again, I fervently hope that he marches on to greatness by challenging titlists Felix Sturm (WBA) or Arthur Abraham (IBF) to stamp his supremacy in the 160 pound division.

Editor Notes:

I would be remiss if I do not state that I also focused on media hyped fights to reach my conclusions. For the record however, it is important to note that there are several boxers punching away undiscovered in some back water dump never getting the shot at greatness, but they should not despair as their story will be told some day.

So protect yourself at all times and keep punching till your day comes on Showtime, ESPN, OR HBO, or wait for your day at Canastota.