Pavlik v. Taylor II is finally upon us. I fully expect this fight to be no different than the first, with the exception that I don't think Kelly will get knocked down and almost out. No matter how many times they fight, Jermain will always be the quicker fighter and better overall athlete, but this is boxing, not track and field. Pavlik is a better technician, more skilled overall fighter who doesn't have Taylor's flaws, namely the tendency to drop his left hand the entire fight, to go against the ropes and to loop his punches.
This fight is a huge fight for Lou DiBella, Taylor's promoter, as Taylor is his only real money maker at the moment. Andre Berto is not quite there yet, despite having an HBO contract. Mr. DiBella also promotes title holders Carlos Quintana and Paulie Malignaggi.
Another angle to this fight, albeit one that only interests me because I am an attorney, is that both Bob Arum and Lou DiBella are Harvard Law grads, obviously years apart. Mr. Arum I believe graduated and then went to work at the Department of Justice under Robert F. Kennedy, while DiBella worked at the elite firm of Sullivan & Cromwell (#3 ranked firm according to Vault).
Switching gears to the other "major" fight this weekend if you can call it that, Sergey Liakhovich faces Nikolai Valuev. I don't expect this fight to be entertaining in the slightest. Liakovich had a great night when he beat then WBO titlest Lamon Brewster. Since then neither fighter has won a fight. Before the Brewster fight Liakhovich wasn't much of a prospect either. The most interesting thing about this fight is that Liakhovich weighed in at over 250 pounds (about 10 lbs. heavier than he has ever fought at) and doesn't look like a fighter, but rather a whale. I'll go with Valuev just because he is so damn big and can be hard to hit.
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