Taylor promises brawl with Pavlik in rematch

Las Vegas, Feb 14: World middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik meets former holder Jermain Taylor on Saturday in a rematch of a September bout in which both men hit the canvas.Taylor believes his defeat in the action-packed clash was mostly due to a lack of conditioning, caused partly by his difficulties in making the 160lb limit.

As a result, the rematch will be at a catch weight of 166lb and the middleweight title will not be on the line. The former champion said he expected Saturday's fight in Las Vegas to be exciting and promised to brawl with Pavlik. "For this fight here I come to fight," he said. Pavlik, from Youngstown, Ohio, welcomed Taylor's approach but said he suspected that the memories of the first bout would haunt his rival in the rematch. "He says he's going to come out and slug, but I think that could all change after one big right hand," he said. In the last contest, champion Taylor knocked down Pavlik in the second round but Pavlik fought his way back into the bout. In the seventh round Pavlik unleashed a combination that trapped Taylor in a corner and sent him slumping to the canvas with referee Steve Smoger stopping the fight. "I hit him with the first right hand, he stood there for a little bit, he froze," Pavlik, 32-0 with 29 KOs, recalled when speaking to reporters this week. "I pulled my right hand back, and I just came in again and threw another one-two. He went back into the corner and I knew he was hurt real bad." "I don't know what happened," said Taylor, 27-1 (17 KOs) of that first contest. "All I know is I lost the fight." The contract for the September fight stipulated that Taylor, from Little Rock, Arkansas, could demand an immediate rematch if he lost his title. The emphatic nature of his defeat, however, led many to expect him to waive that right and take some warm-up bouts to rebuild his confidence before facing his conqueror. But Taylor told a news conference this week: "I don't need a tune-up fight. I believe you fight the guy who beat you." Bureau Report