Jermain Taylor Q and A

Jermain Taylor has a mind full of questions churning in his head now. He’s been trying to make sense of his standing as a boxer, after being knocked out by Kelly Pavlik on Sept. 29, just a few minutes after he had Pavlik on the proverbial ropes, but couldn’t seal the deal.

JT hooked us up with some email trading, back and forth, to touch on where his head is at, post-loss.

Q) Please share your mindset now, as some time has passed since the loss. Are you eager to get back in with Pavlik and tear him up, get revenge?

(JT) “Well, let's just say I want to exercise my rematch and I'm very
confident in a rematch. To be so close to winning the fight in the second round and not finishing was disappointment for me.”

Q) Will the KO weigh on you mentally in a rematch? Possible that you could be gunshy, or are you over it?

(JT) “No, let's not forget Kelly got hit also and went down, I just didn't finish or close out the way I was suppose to. There have been a lot of great fighters and world champions that have been knockout and came back in a big way.”

Q) How hard was it for you to make 160? Were you extremely weak?

(JT) “I did not have a problem making 160 at all, I was on schedule. I
wasn't weak and I'm not making any excuses. I lost the fight.”

Q) Will Emanuel Steward be back working with you? Are you leaning
towards working with him again, or bringing back Pat, or someone else? Also, did Manny give you good advice that night? Didn't he tell you that you were losing?

(JT) “I will be gathering with my advisors very soon and will address my corner situation very soon. Right now I have been relaxing with my wife Erica and family, we are expecting are 3rd child in December and we are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas holiday.”

Post Q and Analysis: A couple things stick out for me. One, I think Taylor is showing incredible class when he doesn’t cite his weight woes for the loss, and gives Pavlik full credit. Duh, his people put in the rematch clause that a sequel would be held at 166. They knew 160 was no longer feasible for him. But it seems as though he doesn’t want to make excuses for the loss. Standup guy.

Also, JT chose not to delve into the question about Manny’s work in the corner that night. Very skillful JT, turn it around and remind me that I’m a human being first, and reporter second, by mentioning the wife’s pregnancy. So we’ll have to see how the Manny stays or goes? Storyline plays out. What’s your guess, readers? Sayonara Steward? Or you think JT looked solid until he got caught, and he and Steward can regroup, and take down Pavlik?