Two fights. Four middleweights. Alright, three middleweights and a welterweight that is just pretending. Leon Spinks’ son takes on the undisputed middleweight champion in Jermain Taylor while two sluggers duke it out for the right to fight that winner.
Jermain Taylor vs. Cory Spinks
When this matchup was announced months ago, most boxing fans knew it wouldn’t be an action-packed fight. The fans that were in attendance last night had this fight on a short leash as the boo-birds made an appearance in the second round. The fight never got much better after that as the most interesting things occurred after the final bell.
Spinks got control early using his slick boxing to hit and run. And run. And run. Hit once more. Run again. Taylor either wasn’t able to adjust to Spinks’ speed or just didn’t want to bother with it. Jermain Taylor continues to be an enigma. Spinks is a natural welterweight that moved up to light middleweight and was out of place moving up one more weight class to middleweight. Taylor used his size advantage to bully Spinks from the fifth round on while Spinks ran a marathon inside the ring.
Taylor wound up winning an odd split decision. It was odd in the fact that Buffer announced the card in favor of Spinks as 111-107. If boxing scoring is Greek to you, the scores for Taylor were 117-111 and 115-113. Do the math. Spinks also ran around the ring like a moron after the bell, celebrating a win he didn’t end up getting. That’s pretty much why you don’t do things like that.
Jermain Taylor gave yet another disappointing performance but still came away with the win. After defeating Bernard Hopkins twice and fighting Winky Wright to a draw, all the while appearing as though he still had room to grow and learn, Taylor was en route to becoming the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. Now with multiple fights under legendary trainer Emanuel Steward, Taylor is still winning albeit with underachieving performances. Perhaps Taylor will never reach that potential and this is the fighter that he is. He is timid in the ring and shows too much respect to his opponents, cutting into his aggressiveness.
Edison Miranda vs. Kelly Pavlik
Jermain Taylor has fought two consecutive light middleweight boxers for his middleweight belts. That trend will hopefully change as the winner of this middleweight bout would become the #1 contender to Jermain Taylor and his bevy of middleweight belts. Both men are heavy punching brawlers in the ring but the similarities stop there. Miranda loves to talk and is fast becoming a sharp self-promoter, neglecting the fact that he has little technical boxing ability. Pavlik remains quiet and respectful of his opponents and admits he needs to develop more as a boxer.
These two brawlers put on an excellent show and proved to be the anti-Taylor/Spinks. They traded power shots from the very beginning. As soon as it looked like Miranda was in trouble he would storm back with a flurry of his own. Miranda already had a swollen eye by the third round but that was after Pavlik had blood coming from his nose in the second. Despite the back-and-forth action, the rounds seemed to be in the favor of Kelly Pavlik. Miranda eats canvas twice in the sixth round. Miranda is just out of gas. Too much punishment coupled with a certainly faster work rate than he was expecting out of Kelly Pavlik.
The fight was over in the sixth but the referee let it go on. Pavlik made sure it ended in the seventh with another knockdown that forced the referee to stop the fight. Kelly Pavlik is an interesting matchup for Taylor, should that fight be made. It will be the first time that Taylor will be in the ring with someone that has equal, if not more, power than himself. Pavlik is also humble enough to realize he needs a lot of work in the gym if he is to dethrone Taylor. Something I don’t think Edison Miranda would do.
Other Results From Last Week
– Glen Johnson scored a TKO over Montell Griffin in the 11th round of the main event on ESPN Wednesday Night Fights. Johnson became the #1 contender to a light heavyweight title with the win.
– Joel Julio made quick work of Mauro Lucero, knocking him out in the first round.
– 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward ended Dhafir Smith’s night in the 6th round with a TKO.
– Stevie Johnston was victorious in his return to the lightweight division, earning a unanimous decision over Humberto Toledo.
– Irish middleweight John Duddy keeps on winning. Dupre Strickland was the victim this time, losing a unanimous decision.
– Zahir Raheem won his lightweight bout over Cristobal Cruz by unanimous decision.
– Two of Emanuel Steward’s top prospects were victorious on Friday. Johnathon Banks won his cruiserweight bout while Andy Lee won his middleweight bout. Both were early round TKOs.
– Andre Berto recorded his 14th straight stoppage as Martinus Clay couldn’t make it past the 7th round in their welterweight contest. Berto will be a beast in the welterweight division.
