Ever since new middleweight champion Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik knocked out former undefeated champion Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor, many have been wondering exactly what the former champion's next move would be. There have been talks of him taking an interim fight before fighting the hard-hitting Pavlik again and there have also been talks of Pavlik taking on WBO contender John Duddy. Finally letting his intentions be known, Jermain Taylor has opted to invoke his rematch clause and take on Pavlik immediately.
At first, I agreed with the talk of an interim fight for Taylor. The reasoning is that after being knocked out the way Taylor was, you never know exactly how a fighter will react in the ring. An interim fight would give you an idea. After a while, however, I changed my mind. The reason is that If an interim fight took place, we may never get a chance to see Pavlik-Taylor 2. There are just too many things that could happen. Taylor could get injured in the interim fight and be forced to pull out of the rematch or worse, he could lose the interim fight altogether. The same thing could happen to Pavlik. He too could lose to Duddy or get injured. There is just too many factors that could possibly get involved.
Now that Taylor has opted for the rematch, there are certain things that he has to take care of in order to be successful. First and foremost, Taylor needs to get his mind right. What I mean is that Taylor cannot go in there with the thought of being knocked out in the back of his mind. He has to have the same type of attitude that the great Chiquita Gonzalez had for his rematch with Michael Carbajal. That attitude was "hey, you got me last time, but I am the more skilled boxer and if I stick to my gameplan, I am going to outbox you all night and walk out with my pride and the win."
There is one other item that needs to be addressed as well before this attitude can take place: the trainer issue. I know a lot of people put Manny Steward on this pedistal, but how much good has he actually done for Jermain Taylor? He was against Jermain facing Winky Wright and after their fight was declared a draw, the excuses flew. He was all for Taylor fighting a blown-up welterweight in Kassim Ouma, and yet, Taylor did not impress. After another lackluster performance against Cory Spinks, Steward went on record saying he did not want to fight Spinks in the first place and was against the fight from the beginning. He was even heard during the fight screaming at Taylor in the corner telling him that he told him he should have fought Edison Miranda. Notice he did not say Kelly Pavlik. The funny thing is that after the Spinks fight, Taylor's manager and father figure, Ozell Nelson, was asked by Wally Hall, sports editor for the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, just who chose Spinks as an opponent. Even though Nelson said "just blame me", he did state that after Sergio Mora pulled out of the fight, he was given three names as possible replacements: Edison Miranda, Kelly Pavlik, and Cory Spinks. Alledgedly, Pavlik wanted too much money for the fight. It was reported that after looking at the list of the three names, Steward made the decision to fight Spinks...a fight that he claims he was against despite the fact that it sounds like Steward made the deicision immediately after looking at the list of replacement opponents. Fast forwarding to the Pavlik fight, Steward said many things about Pavlik, nothing positive mind you. Everything Steward said was negative and went so far as to basically call Pavlik a bum that did not deserve the fight to begin with. Now, after Pavlik knocked Taylor out, Steward states he underestimated Pavlik's speed and power.
Let's also not forget that Steward has constantly blamed Taylor's former trainer, Pat BUrns, for the bad habits Taylor has picked up along the way. Steward said that he spent more personal time than ever before with Taylor trying to find out why he goes to the corners to rest and that was determined to be Burns' fault because of the way he had Taylor sparring. Lets look at that for a minute. What exactly is Steward trying to say? Pat Burns trained Taylor to the two biggest wins of his career against Bernard Hopkins, keeping his undefeated record in tact and becoming the undisputed middleweight champion by beating a man that had broken the middleweight defense record. Since Steward took over from that time, however, Taylor has a record of 2-1-1 (0 KO) with the 2 wins coming against Ouma (a blown up welterweight) and a close, disputed decision to a junior middleweight champion (Cory Spinks). Is he telling the fans that while observing both Hopkins' fights, training Taylor for a draw against Winky Wright (a disputed draw at that), and his victories against Ouma and Spinks where Taylor constantly went to the ropes and corners to rest, that he waited until the Pavlik camp to find out why this was? Is he saying "I blame Pat Burns because I am a Hall of Fame trainer that could not fix or find the root of this problem while preparing my guy for four different fights"? Give us fans a break.
Look, I can possibly give him the Wright fight, but after that, every trainer in the world knew what needed to be fixed, and yet, he didn't do it so now he's blaming Burns. I know that many people think very highly of Steward, but lets face it, Jermain has digressed since becoming involved with him. He has not progressed at all. Don't think that I am screaming for a return of Pat Burns because quite honestly, I'm not. I do feel that Taylor was not progressing under Burns as well and that he had come as far as he could with him and needed a change, but a change to Steward was definitely not the answer.
If a change is made, who do I think would be the best fit? Well, considering Jermain has maintained an East Coast connection, it may be best to discuss things with Buddy McGirt. I am not a huge McGirt fan, but Buddy can train Jermain to stay off the ropes and he can advance his natural ability and boxing skills. Is McGirt the trainer I would choose? No, but since Jermain is strictly East Coast, I would lean that way. The best choice, I feel, for Jermain is Joe Goosen mainly because of the accomplishments he had with Joel Casamayor followed by the turn around of the late Diego Corrales. Plus, with Goosen, there will be no questions about the intstructions in the corner or whether he is losing or winning the fight. Goosen is a straight shooter with his fighters and would let Taylor know real fast how things are going. I've seen it first hand as I sat in the corner of Elicier Castillo while he was losing to Charles Shufford a few years ago and fans across the world heard it when Corrales fought Castillo the first time around.
As a fighter, I feel there are a couple of things Taylor needs to do to be successful in the rematch. One is to continue coming forward throwing the jab, something he just recently started doing again. When Taylor was the aggressor, he was doing alright. Taylor also needs to continue to better his conditioning. As champion, he seemed to become less and less conditioned for his fights. I know that I have said Taylor has always tired in fights, but since going with Steward, it has become worse. The common perception I have found when talking to people about Taylor is that he has let his fame and fortune go to his head and he is not as hungry as he was in the beginning. That may be true and if so, that's definitely what gets you beat in boxing. Besides the jab, I'd also like to see Taylor get back to using his combination of a left hook to the body followed by a left hook to the head. When Taylor used that beautiful combination as he climbed through the rankings, he always hurt his opponents. That particular combo is something that has long been lost, even before his fights with Hopkins. Taylor should also avoid in-fighting with Pavlik in the rematch. I know Taylor has the speed and athleticism, but on the inside, Pavlik methodically breaks you down, which is amazing considering his size. Jermain needs to get in and get out. Do not linger on the inside because Pavlik just wears on you. For Jermain to be successful, he needs to box and move and pick his shots carefully while keeping his hands up. He cannot allow Pavlik to land the right hand over and over or it's going to be similar to the first fight and Pavlik will stop Jermain once again.
Right now, the fans in Arkansas are still behind Jermain, even moreso than after his previous fights when the bandwagon was starting to empty, but another crushing knockout loss to Pavlik and Jermain may find the wagon empty, especially when you consider him competing in a division with names like Kessler, Mundine, and Calzaghe.