By Bill Calogero

Kelly Pavlik gets off the canvas proving to have the guts and then receives the glory with a devastating 7th round TKO victory over Jermain Taylor to make him the Middleweight Champion of the world. The sure to be classic battle was broadcast live on HBO from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City last night.

Jermain Taylor was a substantial favorite going into the scheduled 12-round WBC, WBO Middleweight Championship bout. Coming off sub-par performances, Taylor and his camp talked smack for the past several weeks boasting that the fight would be a throw-back to the old days and that he would prevail and quiet all of his critics.

The fight was indeed a throw-back to the glory days of the Middleweight Division during the 1950’s when we were treated to great “rock-em sock-em” bouts featuring the best the division has ever seen including Sugar Ray Robinson, Carmen Basilio, Jake LaMotta and Rocky Graziano (the list goes on and on) on a seemly regular basis. The list of great middleweight fights of that era is a large one. Last night’s bout between Jermain Taylor and Kelly Pavlik would have definitely been on the list if it were to have taken place back then. I believe it will, and should be added to everyone’s list of all-time great bouts.

The first round set the pace. Taylor came out very aggressively, throwing and landing lots of punches. Pavlik answered by throwing and landing many punches of his own. For the most part, the first round found both combatants toe-to-toe hammering at each other. Taylor had the much quicker hand speed, but he seemed troubled facing a clearly bigger man. As the bell sounded to end a non-stop action-packed first round, I gave the edge to Kelly Pavlik. He seemed to land more punches as the round progressed.

The second round picked up where the first left off. Both fighters were toe-to-toe trading shots to the body and head of each other. Taylor landed a devastating left-right-left combination to the head of Pavlik, putting him in serious trouble. As Pavlik’s legs turned to spaghetti, Taylor again demonstrated his speed and quickness by jumping on his clearly injured prey landing a barrage of punches, from all angles, all over the “ready to go” Kelly Pavlik. As expected by everyone watching, Pavlik crumbled to the canvas.

As referee Steve Smoger counted, Pavlik stood up. The determination was clearly visible on his face, but his legs were not operating. He was staggering around the ring. He beat the count and did his best to appear ready, and was allowed to continue. Again, Taylor came charging towards his opponent. It looked bleak to say the least for Kelly Pavlik. There was close to a minute and a half left in the round and Pavlik’s legs had yet to show they were able to keep him from going down again. That’s when Kelly’s heart, determination and overall guts stepped up to the plate and took over the fight. Pavlik survived the round and went walking back to his corner desperate to use every second of the break.

As the third round began, Jermain Taylor started out fast and furious in attempt to put Kelly Pavlik away. His plans to finish the bout changed as his own energy resources began to run low. He slowed down. His arms became heavy and all of a sudden it was Pavlik who began landing crisp shots to the head and body of Jermain Taylor. As the bell sounded to end the round, in my opinion, it was Pavlik who received the 10-9 score on my scorecard.

The fourth round again, as the three previous, was action-packed. Jermain Taylor showed he had the superior speed landing several combinations to the head of Pavlik, but his speed could not win the round for him against the relentless Kelly Pavlik. Pavlik’s constant pressure and accurate punches were clearly getting to Taylor. Kelly began to control this fight and neutralize Taylor’s hand and foot speed. Again, on my scorecard, I gave the edge in this round to Kelly Pavlik.

When the bell rang to begin the fifth round, it was clear to me Jermain Taylor was fighting with a sense of urgency. He came out like he did in the first, throwing punches in bunches, but so was Pavlik. The truth is both fighters had been giving it his all during the entire bout. On my scorecard, Taylor won this round.

The sixth round seemed like a carbon copy of the fifth except I believe that Kelly Pavlik had the edge. Again, both fighters were landing crisp punches, to the body and head of each other, just like they had during all of the previous rounds but Kelly Pavlik’s determination and his relentless attack gave him the edge in this round on my scorecard.

When the 7th round started, I actually thought it was Pavlik who seemed to begin to tire. Taylor was moving and throwing punches and for the first time, Pavlik was not pressing as hard as he was. Then after receiving a crushing right hand, Taylor began to retreat towards the ropes. Following him like they were connected with a rope, Pavlik landed a barrage of solid shots including a right-left-right combination that sent Jermain Taylor hunched in a sitting position in the corner, clearly finished as referee Steve Smoger rushed over and put a halt to the bout.

It was officially scored a TKO at 2:14 of the seventh round, but it should have been a KO. Jermain Taylor was not going to beat the count. Nonetheless, the victory gave Kelly Pavlik the WBC and WBO Middleweight Titles and now is regarded as the universally recognized Middleweight Champion of the World. His record continues to be unblemished at 32-0 (29 KOs) while Jermain Taylor suffers his first defeat as a pro dropping to 27-1-1 (17 KOs).

After the fight, both fighters indicated that they would fight each other again, especially since Taylor has a rematch clause in place to fight the next bout at 166lbs.

Overall, this was everything it was billed. It clearly was a throwback fight and I think that the Promoters, Top Rank, Inc. and DiBella Entertainment should be given credit for giving boxing fans the opportunity to see such a great fight on HBO.

On the under card, Andre Berto continues his assault on the Welterweight Division by stopping David Estrada to win the vacant NABF Welterweight Title. Berto improves to 20-0 (17 KOs) while Estrada drops to 21-4 (12 KOs).

Berto showed that he deserves to be in the mix to challenge for a World Title shot as soon as his next scheduled fight. I am sure we will hear something on that in the coming weeks.

All in all a great night of live boxing broadcast from Atlantic City, New Jersey on HBO. I believe that these two bouts have helped cement the argument that professional boxing is clearly in resurgence. Hopefully, many of the anti-boxing fans watched this bout so they could see that professional boxing is definitely alive and well. This type of match up and the fact that the fight turned out as billed is what pro boxing needs. I have said this before and I will say it again, fights like Pavlik vs. Taylor should be the norm, not the exception.