The most famous fighter in Youngstown history, hall-of-famer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, does not think WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor will fight Kelly Pavlik, who is arguably the best fighter to come out of Youngstown, Ohio since Mancini himself.
Mancini, who 25-years-ago won the WBA lightweight title, tells the Tribune-Chronicle of Ohio that he does not see Pavlik getting the same opportunity from Taylor.
“He’s in line to be the next superstar in boxing,” Mancini said. “People don’t want to see a piece of garbage like the (Oscar) De La Hoya-(Floyd) Mayweather fight. They have a love affair with the kid. When you beat a fighter from a foreign country the way he did, you get fans. He can start using that for leverage for purses and make a lot of money. I’m excited for him to make money and get security."
"Taylor won’t fight him. I’d put money on that. He (Pavlik) is a headache Taylor doesn’t need. Taylor would be an easy fight for him. Technically, Taylor is so immature. He jumps in and is off balance."
Although he sees Taylor as an easy fight, Pavlik must properly prepare for the champion's movement.
“Taylor would give him a lot of movement that he hasn’t seen. The last four guys have stood in front of him (Pavlik). He hasn’t seen movement for a while. Taylor will give him all types of angles. He has to prepare for that type of fight.”
“Everyone is talking about him. The thing is, can he handle success? He’s a good, humble kid, so I assume he will.”