How can you not like a fighter who takes a rematch that can’t actually win him back any championship belts even with a victory? After losing his world Middleweight belt to Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik (32-0, 29 KOs) last September, the self-proclaimed Pride of Arkansas, Jermain “ Bad Intentions” Taylor (27-1-1, 17 KOs) exercised his rematch option. The rematch, though, will be at the weight of 166 lbs., (Super Middleweight), making a reclaiming of his belt impossible for Taylor. But as Taylor himself put it, the fight can’t get him a belt back, “But it will gain me revenge.” 

And that may be the reason he has the edge in the fight.  

In their original match in Atlantic City, Taylor dominated early, nearly taking Pavlik out in the second round. But Pavlik rebounded and came back to knock Taylor out in the seventh. It was the first time Taylor had ever been knocked out as a professional fighter. It was also the first time an Emanuel Steward fighter had lost a fight after training in Steward’s secluded and successful training camp in the Poconos. Oh, how things changed that day on the shore!  

Taylor has made a lot of other changes since that fight. Emanuel Steward is out, replaced by a new head trainer and Taylor’s original coach Ozell Nelson. There’s a new daughter in the picture for Taylor. And after this fight, Taylor is looking to fight consistently at Super Middleweight.  

There will also be changes in the fight venue and the expected crowd support. The original bout took place in Atlantic City, an easy haul for Pavlik’s Ohio-based fans. Hey, I grew up near Pavlik’s hometown of Youngstown, OH. Any excuse for a trip to Atlantic City, right? But the crowd support in the original fight was strongly in Pavlik’s favor and may have given him the extra motivation he needed in the seventh round to come back from a huge deficit on the cards to score the KO.  

The bigger venue also aids Taylor simply by putting him in a situation he’s more used to than Pavlik. Taylor’s had huge fights, including his original win against Bernard Hopkins to gain the Middleweight title, at the MGM and other large Vegas boxing arenas. His Hopkins rematch was at Mandalay Bay. He knows the feel of a large Vegas crowd. Pavlik’s fought on a number of undercards at the MGM and the Mandalay Bay in 2003 and 2004, but that experience is in no way the same as being the featured fight against a popular fighter with a crowd that always wants to see blood before they go hand their money over to the blackjack dealer and the bartender. Not that I would have first hand knowledge of that.  

I actually had Pavlik picked for the upset in Atlantic City, but that was mostly because I love those Ohio boys. I don’t think Pavlik can repeat in Vegas. All Taylor needed to show was a little more self control early on to just try to wear Pavlik down instead of take him out. Though, you have to wonder if Taylor’s life and coaching changes could adversely affect him. There’s also the possibility that rather than be thrown off by being the main event in a Vegas show, Pavlik will be motivated by it. That said, I can’t help but to think that a Jermain Taylor back on the big stage where he had his biggest win against Hopkins and where Pavlik won’t have the advantage of a huge imbalance in crowd support gives Taylor the advantage. 

We know one thing for sure, both of these boys can punch. One moment where one of them lets his guard down even a little could make all of the environment issues about where the fight is being held irrelevant.  

The 12-round Jermain Taylor/Kelly Pavlik rematch “The Epic Battle Continues,” takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, February 16th at 9:00pm EST. You can take your girlfriend or boyfriend, husband or wife out to a nice Valentine’s dinner, and then later they won’t even complain when you lose money betting on the fight. Or you can watch it on HBO Pay-Per-View.  

The epic battle continues for me to not make fun of the name “The Epic Battle Continues.”