Taylor to take on Pavlik?

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Jermain Taylor's victory over Cory Spinks was a forgettable one, so it was no surprise when attention quickly turned to the middleweight champion's next fight. Kelly Pavlik, anyone? "Yeah, I'll fight him," Taylor said. "It doesn't make a difference. We can fight next month." Taylor looked like he could go 12 rounds again next week following his tepid bout Saturday night. Spinks missed more punches (457) than Taylor attempted (319), and Taylor's team conceded that his latest title defense was not an aesthetic masterpiece. Taylor's trainer, Emanuel Steward, said Spinks (36-4) was to blame for that. "Who's going to look good with Cory Spinks?" Steward said. "All you want to do is get the win and move on. Cory Spinks was jabbing, and before the punch got out, he's running back already." When Taylor defeated Bernard Hopkins in 2005 to win the middleweight title, he appeared to be the future of the middleweight division -- and those expectations have affected the way people view him. After winning a rematch with Hopkins, he escaped with a draw against Winky Wright, but since then he's drawn criticism for fighting two straight opponents up from the junior middleweight ranks. Taylor, of Little Rock, Ark., outpointed Kassim Ouma in December, and his split decision against Spinks was even less decisive. Taylor (27-0-1) had winning scores of 117-111 and 115-113 from two of the judges, and the third had it 117-111 for the challenger from St. Louis. "I don't know what to say. It was highway robbery," said Spinks, the IBF junior middleweight champion. "I thought I gave a great boxing display." The star of Saturday's show was Pavlik, who battered Edison Miranda in an action-packed middleweight fight on the undercard. Pavlik-Miranda was everything Taylor-Spinks wasn't -- both fighters went at each other from the start, defending themselves only by hitting back. Pavlik and Miranda combined to throw 191 punches in the first round alone. Pavlik (31-0) knocked Miranda down twice in the sixth, one round before the fight was stopped. Taylor's camp was respectful of Pavlik -- and had to enjoy his victory over Miranda, who had taunted Taylor earlier in the week. "I took care of that mouth," said Pavlik, who is from Youngstown, Ohio. Taylor's team is looking for an opponent the champion can look good against. Ouma was supposed to be that type of fighter, but Taylor appeared too impatient during that bout in his home state of Arkansas. To his credit, Taylor didn't lose his composure against Spinks despite an obviously restless crowd -- and he appears to have kicked his dangerous habit of keeping his hands too low when he fights. Besides Pavlik, Taylor's most prominent option now appears to be a move up in class to fight Joe Calzaghe, an undefeated super middleweight champion. "If he doesn't take the fight, at least I can say I made someone run up a weight class," Pavlik said. Saturday night, any opponent seemed preferable to Spinks. "Kelly Pavlik is a solid fighter," Steward said. "He's a tough, solid, basic kid -- and if they fight ... it's going to be a tough fight. But at least Jermain will get to fight and use his jab and do basic stuff instead of chasing a guy all night."