12 ROUNDS WITH LENNOX LEWIS

In the course of his brilliant career, Lennox Lewis has been in the ring with some fighters who could really bang. Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, David Tua and Hasim Rahman, to name a few. Lewis knows what to expect when you look across the ring and see a guy who wants to take your head off. The match-up between Jermain Taylor and Kelly Pavlik is truly a "Bangers Ball." No prisoners will be taken. So we asked Lewis, the retired heavyweight champ and HBO commentator to evaluate the fight. Okay, Lennox -- Ding ding!

by Nat Gottlieb

ROUND 1 (Size)

I think Kelly has bigger muscle mass, and he's got a bigger chest and shoulders. That translates into a heavy puncher. When they say a guy is heavy handed --and they said it about me and about Kelly -- it doesn't come from the hands, it comes from the shoulders and chest.

Jermain brings muscle definition. He's got a pretty tight muscle grouping. What this gives you is endurance, the ability to keep throwing punches into the later rounds. I give the edge to Pavlik although it is very close.

10-9 -- Pavlik

ROUND 2 (Mental Toughness)

Pavlik comes into this fight with nothing to lose. That keeps him focused. He knows what he wants and plans on getting it. He knows that for this fight, he is not going to walk into the ring and not get hit. He is prepared to get hit.

Jermain's mental toughness comes from being a champion. He doesn't think he can lose. He feels this at an extreme level. I was the same way. When they had that press conference (Taylor-Spinks) and Jermain said some strong things about Pavlik and Edison Miranda, it was not trash talk. He means the stuff he says. I'm the same way. Everything I say is reality. If you come to me, I am going to take you out because I have more heart.

Although Jermain would seem to have an edge, there is no way you can say Kelly Pavlik is not a tough guy. He comes to win.

10-10 -- Even

ROUND 3 (Speed)

I give that to Jermain straight away. He's got antagonism behind his punches. He throws them to take your head off. And he has naturally quick hands.

Pavlik has quickness and he hits heavy, but if both guys throw a right hand at the same time, Jermain's will get there quicker.

10-8 -- Taylor

ROUND 4 (Defense)

No doubt this goes to Pavlik. He knows his limitations, he has a good amateur background in terms of defense. In his last fight with Miranda, both guys were throwing right hands but only Kelly was blocking shots.

Jermain tends to fight squared off, and he gets hit with silly shots. It's a result of not keeping his hands up, of being cocky enough to think, 'Yeah my hands are down but you can't touch me.'

10-9 -- Pavlik

ROUND 5 (Experience)

Definitely Jermain has the edge here in that he has fought all the big names. Those fights with Bernard and Winky taught him a lot. One time in training Manny (Steward) put me in the ring with three guys at once. I'd box one for a minute and a half, then he'd have a fresh fighter step in for another minute and a half, and after that the third guy. By doing this, when the fight time came, it was so much easier. Just one guy, not a fresh guy all the time.

The same thing applies with boxing guys who are hard to beat, world champions. There is so much stress in those fights. After you have fought them, you don't feel the same stress. Those three fights changed Jermain.

For me, the first fight with Holyfield was the one that put me on a new experience level. I beat Holyfield, but they gave it a draw. But I still knew I had beaten the guy who was No. 1 and that was important.

10-8 -- Taylor

Round 6 (Ability To Take a Punch)

This is a difficult one, but I'd give it to Jermain. The reason is that although Pavlik can take a punch, he hasn't taken a Jermain punch.

10-9 -- Taylor

ROUND 7 (Fighting Inside)

Neither Jermain nor Kelly is what I would call an inside fighter. But Jermain has had more fights where he was forced to box better inside. Kelly hasn't been put in that position. He has faced guys that he could beat without fighting inside.

10-9 -- Taylor

ROUND 8 (Bodywork)

Again, Jermain has had more experience doing it. The fight with Winky proved he can work the body.

10-9 -- Taylor

ROUND 9 (Jab)

Both guys have a good jab. I lean toward Jermain, but the last fight Pavlik had he impressed me with how often he would throw the jab and with accuracy. Jermain has a strong jab, but he doesn't use it that much. You can't give a guy points for not using something. He tends to wait for the opportunity to throw a jab. Manny told me in camp that's one of the things he has been working on with Jermain.

10-10 -- EVEN

ROUND 10 (Counterpunching)

Jermain could not have won those big fights without having the ability to counter. I have not seen Pavlik do much counter punching recently. But that could change for this fight. Before, Pavlik would go into the ring on a mission. He felt he was tougher and was going for the knockout. The situation with Jermain is different. He can't approach it the same way. So maybe he will do more counterpunching.

10-9 -- Taylor

ROUND 11 (Ring generalship)

I feel the true sign of a ring general is winning the final rounds. You don't get to be a champion without demonstrating that you can do that. Jermain has been there before and it comes easier for him now. He knows he can take control. The judges might score early rounds on ring generalship, but judges have short memories. Only a few remember the early rounds. They see a fighter taking control at the end, it affects them.

(NOTE: In 31 fights, Pavlik has fought three scheduled 10-rounders and three 12-rounders. Because of his knockout power, he has never had to go the distance. In those fights, he went nine rounds once, eight three times. In Taylor's last five fights, all championship events, he went all 12 rounds, winning four with one draw).

10-9 -- Taylor

ROUND 12 (Heart)

I want to give this to Pavlik, but how can you say Jermain has won the fights he has won and has no heart. So I'd call this one even.

10-10 -- EVEN

WINNER:

Taylor 118-111

FOOTNOTES:

What about the intangibles, Lennox?

LEWIS: I think the person who fails to use boxing skills in this fight will lose. They both have raw power, guts and heart. It will come down to who has a better mind as a boxer. At some point in a fight you have to use the Sweet Science.

(Marco Antonio) Barrera is a great example. In the beginning of his career, he wanted to prove he had a strong heart and would go toe-to-toe. Then when he got to the level where the fight was 50-50 either way, he began to use the Sweet Science.

Who has the discipline in this fight to use it? I would say Pavlik. He's very coachable. He has the ability to listen. If I had both guys in my army, and I said okay, this is what I want you to do. I want you to throw 50 jabs at the start. Jermain would start doing it but then stop. Pavlik will do it and keep doing it.

But that should change in this fight because Jermain has been in isolation (Pocono camp). When you are in isolation you can hear better and it sinks in. Nobody loses coming off the mountain. There is something about the Poconos, the isolation that makes you a better New York fighter. I never lost a fight when I trained up there. I must have gone there about eight times. I had been working mostly on the West Coast, but there were a lot of distractions. I'm the kind of guy who craves isolation. I don't like the distractions of the city.

I don't want to take the credit, but I have been telling Manny (Steward, Taylor trainer) Jermain needs to go to the Poconos, he needs to learn things in isolation. He needs to surround himself with people (fighters) who have the same goal and stature. Jermain is coming down off the mountain to knockout Pavlik.

(NOTE: Taylor's sparring partners at Stewards Pocono gym included hard-hitting welterweight champion Kermit Cintron, and unbeaten blue-chip prospects Andy Lee (middleweight), and Jonathan Banks (cruiserweight).