By Mark Vester

In of the more anticipated bouts to hit the middleweight division, two young power-punching lions, Kelly Pavlik (30-0, 27KOs) and Edison Miranda (28-1, 24KOs), collide on the undercard of Jermain Taylor's middleweight title defense against 154-pound champ Cory Spinks at the Fed-Ex Forum in Memphis.

In recent weeks, Miranda, known for his witty trash talk, has been taunting Pavlik in the press. During an interview with the Ohio Tribune Chronicle , Pavlik made it clear that he is not fazed by the trash talk antics of Miranda.

"He talks a lot and gets a lot of people afraid of him,” Pavlik said of Miranda. “That’s when he steps up with the big power punch. But as soon as someone starts punching back at him, that’s when he starts going backwards. I’m going to come out aggressive.”

The winner will become the mandatory challenger to Jermain Taylor, but a Taylor bout is not a sure thing. Should Taylor get by Spinks as expected, there is talk that he would move up to the super middleweight division to challenge WBO champ Joe Calzaghe in September.

“You always want to fight the world champion,” Pavlik said. “But also if he vacates the title, it makes me know that I made the true champion run from his weight class.”

The middleweight double header will be televised by HBO.

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This will be a goodn & based on their KO records,styles & reputations I'm pretty sure its not going the distance.

I'm REALLY looking forward to this one.

Both of em hit like trucks, but I think it will go the distance.

I'm taking Miranda by Decision. Either way this is one fight I aint missing.

I havn't seen either man fight.
Both must have good chins if u expect it to go to a decision cause they are bangers based on their records

Miranda: I'll BBQ Pavlik!
Edison “Pantera” Miranda was in his usual form Thursday at the final press conference before his HBO-televised bout with Kelly Pavlik at the FedEx Forum, letting both Pavlik and the night’s headliner, Jermain Taylor, know that he’s got both of them in his sights.

“Pavlik’s a great fighter but I’m in a different league,” said Miranda (28-1, 24 KOs) of his opponent on Saturday. “I’m a Major League player and he’s in the Minor Leagues. People watch baseball for the home runs and boxing for knockouts. On Saturday night I’m going to give people what they want to see, a KNOCKOUT!”. In the midst of the BBQ festivities in Memphis this week, Pantera promised that he was going to have his very own BBQ. “I will Bar-B-Que Kelly Pavlik!.”

The unbeaten Pavlik, a heavy hitter in his own right at 30-0 with 27 KOs, said he’s willing to oblige Miranda in standing toe to toe and going to war.

“On Saturday I am going to break the record for the most punches thrown in a round and give the world a great fight to watch,” said “The Ghost”.

As for Taylor, who faces 154-pound titlist Cory Spinks in a “middleweight” championship bout, Miranda did not hold back.

“Taylor, I will fight you for the same amount of money that I’m getting paid to fight Pavlik just to show the world that you’re not a real champion,” said Miranda. “I’m the real champ. I fight real middleweights, not blown up welterweights.”

And that was just the beginning…

“Cory Spinks you’re a great Champion, but Taylor, you’re supposed to be a tiger,” continued Miranda. “How do they put a tiger against a cat? If you’re a real tiger, why don’t they put you face to face with the panther?”

Taylor took Miranda’s words in stride, saying that he ‘isn’t going to pound the podium and yell like Miranda’. Instead, he was going to be a classy champion. However, it was very clear that Miranda’s tough talk got under Taylor’s skin. Just a few minutes into his speech, Taylor began pounding the podium and screaming (even harder and louder than Miranda), which is very unlike the usually calm Taylor. It was apparent that Taylor was more concerned about Miranda rather than Spinks. He spent most of his time addressing Miranda’s statements and did not even make one mention of Cory Spinks, who he will be fighting on Saturday night.

On another note, Pantera pledged that he did not come to the United States for money. He came for the love of the sport and to take on the best fighters in the world. “The fans want to see exciting fights and knockouts and I will give them just that. Boxing is a sport that needs help and I believe that I can give boxing the shot in the arm that it needs”. On the contrary, Taylor stated “To me, it’s all money in the bank baby!”.
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I just had a look at Mirandas record & 17 of his 24KOs came in the first rd!!

I havn't seen either man fight.
Both must have good chins if u expect it to go to a decision cause they are bangers based on their records


Oh yeah they both have solid chins and are tough as nails. Thats not why I think it will go the distance though. I've noticed that Pavlik, even though he's a great knockout artist, has the tendancy to be cautious and not step it up 100% when he hurts his opponent ever since he started stepping up in class. It's a good trait to have IMO, but I think both will respect each other's power too much to go searching for the knockout. I'll take Miranda by decision.

I could be wrong though, either guy could knock the other one out in the opening rounds, thats wht makes this fight so great on paper.