New Middleweight Champion
Last night World Middleweight champion Jermaine Taylor lost his belts (and his undefeated record) to the number-one contender, Kelly Pavlik, in what the talking heads are already calling one of the most exciting fights in boxing history.
The heavily favored champ put Pavlik on the canvass early in the second round but he failed to finish him when he had the opportunity (at least two minutes left in the round), and when Pavlik got his legs back he regularly dropped his right on Taylor’s head, like a sledgehammer pounding a melon. Taylor fell suddenly in the seventh after a vicious combo from Pavlik, and the ref waved it off before the crowd knew what happened. Excellent fight; be sure to watch the rerun this week on HBO.
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What I learned from Kelly Pavlik
My husband and I watch boxing. He’s never boxed. I did some kickboxing for a while after one of my sophomore college students gave me a particularly hard time. (It was very therapeutic!)
Over the seven years of our marriage, watching boxing has become one of the few types of TV entertainment that Richard and I watch together. Usually he watches TV with one eye, while he’s at his computer researching news articles, fishing gear, checking eBay, etc. I don’t have time these days to watch much of anything on TV except the Brit Hume, Rachael Ray, and the Weather Channel.
Tonight the Pavlik-Taylor fight for the middle-weight championship was scheduled to air during the evening church service, so Richard set the VCR to record it while we were gone.
I had seen bits and pieces of Pavlik’s and Taylor’s bios during the fight promos. I was ready to share all my insights with Richard as to who should win, which I did on our way to church.
When we got home Richard settled into his easy chair to watch the fight–I sat down at my computer to sort through emails. I would have liked to have sat down and watched it with Richard, but had a few urgent emails to send . . . so I looked up occasionally from my desk where I could watch the fight in a mirror. (My resourceful husband has strategically positioned a large mirror on our living room wall so I can see the TV from my computer in my home office!)
The odds against Pavlik, “The Ghost,” were 8-5. Germaine Taylor was the champion and I’ve learned that the odds usually favor the champion, unless he hasn’t been training hard. Taylor appeared to be in good form and ready for this fight. The odds should have been in his favor.
And so I guess most people weren’t surprised when Pavlik hit the canvas in Round 2. I don’t remember how Taylor did it, but Pavlik went down. Then he got up again, barely surviving another minute of pummeling until the bell. The fight continued.
Pavlik rallied, and in the following rounds it looked like they were fairly evenly matched. But the judges were scoring each round in favor of Taylor.
In the 7th round Pavlik backed Taylor into the ropes, hit Taylor with a strong left jab, a punishing right flush to his jaw, and followed by several effective uppercuts. Taylor sank to his knees and didn’t get up. The ref called the fight and Pavlik was soon wearing the belt over his shoulder.
After the fight was over, Pavlik said he thought he was winning each round and was surprised by the judges scoring. When asked what he thought after Taylor knocked him down in the 2nd round, he said, “To tell you the truth, I thought, ’s***, this is going to be a long night!’”
What did I learn from Pavlik?
1. It’s not over until it’s over.
2. It doesn’t matter whether other people think you’re winning or not. What matters is whether YOU think you are.
3. To win, you have to be willing to stay in the fight for as long as it takes.
4. When you win, give the glory to the One who has helped you. (Pavlik did)
5. Like the story of David and Goliath–we’re always inspired by stories of courage and winning against the odds. And in this case, we are also inspired by Pavlik’s perseverance.
6. And, finally, it’s a lot easier to WATCH the fight from an easy chair or sitting at a computer, than it is to BE the one fighting.
Go Tell The Story!
Great comment, and BTW: My wife gets a kick out of Rachel Ray (in fact she loves all of them on the Food Channel!), but I insist on “mute” whenever I hear her raspy voice.
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