(September 29, 2007) Atlantic City, New Jersey (Boardwalk Hall)—-

Sometimes heart is the most critical component in a fighter. Of course, it doesn't hurt if you have a right hand that seems to be forged out of steel.

Trailing on the scorecards and forced to rally after climbing off the deck in the 2nd, 8 to 5 underdog Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik turned up the heat to score a 7th round TKO over Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor to win the WBC and the WBO middleweight titles.

Despite getting dropped early in the 2nd, Pavlik continued to back the champion up and force Taylor to counter off the ropes after the challenger repeatedly landed staccato left jabs and straight right hands to the face with extra cheese. Pavlik was merciless after getting leveled and he repeatedly won a number of exchanges courtesy of straight right crosses, chopping right hands and whistling rights that continued to richochtted off Taylor's profile.

Bleeding from the nose, the six-foot-two-inch Youngstown, Ohio challenger repeatedly blasted away at the champion throughout the 6th, and Taylor was forced to give ground under Pavlik's relentless attack. In the next round, the challenger rocked Taylor with two more laser-like left jabs followed by a riveting right cross, flush on the chin that turned the champion's face to mush.

With the fans on their feet and screaming, Pavlik again caught the champion in the corner and nailed Taylor with a crushing left uppercut to the chin followed by a seven-shot volley to the face. A right uppercut followed by two clubbing left hooks to the side of the skull drove Taylor into the floor just as referee Steve Smoger stepped in to stop the fight.

The champion crashed to the canvas on his backside as Smoger jumped between the fighters and waved off the title fight at 2:14 of the seventh round.

"He can take a hell of a punch. Eventually I think it just caught up to him," Pavlik explained after the victory. "It was a straight right hand. It was finding it's mark all night. One thing I do have is the finishing touch. Those were real shots. If he could've gotten up, he would have."

Taylor caught Pavlik with his hands down in the 2nd, and nearly knocked out the challenger with a barrage of hammering shots that caught the 25-year-old Youngstown fighter square on the jaw.

"He caught me with a good one. He took the legs from and I went down obviously but I got back up," Pavlik said. "I was still a little shaky but being in there with Jermain he can punch like a mule. He is a big natural middleweight so I did what ever I possibly can [could] to survive that round. When I got back up he hit me with some hard shots but I got through."

Taylor seemed thunderstruck after the loss and he immediately left the ring when his cornermen informed him that he had been defeated. Nevertheless, the former champion regained his composure and he was certain that he made a critical mistake by not listening to his corner's advice after scoring the early knockdown.

"I had him hurt. I thought I had him and I threw a bunch of unnecessary punches I shouldn't have thrown. I should have been throwing uppercuts like everybody was screaming at me but I went wild," Taylor said. "I went wild and tried to get him out of there. I give it to Kelly he fought a great fight."

Despite his less than imposing physique the angular and elongated Pavlik had knocked out his last nine opponents coming into the title fight and Taylor proved to be one more victim.

"I just think it was a total accumulation of punches. He can take a helluva shot, which he showed during this fight," Pavlik confided. "I hit him with a lot of flush shots that he took and I think it just caught up in the seventh round."

--Boardwalk Brawl--

Pavlik (32-0, 29 KO's) started strong in the opening round but he was forced to deal with Taylor's (159) faster hands, as the champion got off first with overhand rights. Nevertheless, Pavlik (159 ½) continued to tattoo Taylor (27-1-1, 17 KO's) with stiff left jabs and soon thereafter he began landing crisp right hands down the middle. Late in the round a number of the challenger's fans who had made the long trip from Youngstown east to New Jersey began chanting, "Pavlik, Pavlik, Pavlik." Both men flurried before the bell setting the stage for the upcoming shootout.

The boxers continued to trade leather in the 2nd and at the 2:41 mark, Taylor, Little Rock, Arkansas drilled the challenger with a solid right hand to the face. With 1:48 to go in the round, Taylor, 29 rocked the challenger with an overhand right that caught Pavlik behind the left ear. The champion unloaded a wicked five-shot clubbing combination that rocked the challenger back on his heels. Pavlik dropped his hands and Taylor nailed the Ohio boxer with another blistering salvo's brutal shots square on the jaw. Two more right hands and a left hook dropped the challenger to his knees, as Pavlik crumbled to the canvas at the feet of the champion.

Remarkably, Pavlik regained his feet at the count of three and then staggered back to the neutral corner and took the mandatory eight-count from the referee. With the fans standing and screaming, Taylor, 6'1", unloaded yet another wild swinging clubbing assault rather than zero in with his shots. Pavlik managed to tie up the champion and walk him back into the ropes before Smoger eventually separated the boxers.

With a little over one-minute remaining in the 2nd, Taylor drilled the challenger with two more whistling right hands high on the head and Pavlik almost went down for the second time but he somehow managed to remain vertical. Taylor returned to hammering away with both hands but he was unable to land the finishing blow and Pavlik slowly continued to regain his balance and his equilibrium, as the champion punched him self out. By the end of the one-sided round, Pavlik meandered back to his corner with blood streaming from his nose but still lucid. Across the ring, Taylor was breathing heavy as he sat back on his stool giving every indication that he was also gassed.

--Grit and Determination--

Despite almost getting stopped early in the 2nd, Pavlik rallied over the next several rounds and continued to force Taylor to retreat with stiff left jabs and his best weapon; a whistling right cross on the button. With 43-seconds to go in the 3rd, the challenger drilled Taylor with a four-punch combination to the head and belly.

Two heat-seeking right hands to the jaw drove Taylor back into the corner and with the challenger unloading another brutal salvo the fans were once again on the feet screaming their approval. Finally after eating more than a dozen hammering blows, Taylor returned fire and tagged the challenger with three stunning right hands to the jaw. Once again at the sound of the bell the crowd was on their feet and saluting both boxers.

Taylor was the flashy puncher but Pavlik was relentless and he continued to be the aggressor and force the champion to fight while backing up. Taylor answered every challenge but it was difficult not to escape the notion that one time he would retreat to the ropes and not be able to fight his way back into the bout.

Pavlik was steady and constant over the next several rounds, however, at the 1:48 mark of the 5th, Taylor rocked the challenger again with a savage counter right hand to the jaw. In spite of the champion's fireworks, Pavlik was back on target in the 6th, and again he continued to land sharp left jabs followed by laser-like right hands that repeatedly bounced off of the Taylor jawbone. By the end of the 6th, there was noticeable swelling under both of the champion's eyes and a large lump over Taylor's right eye. At the sound of the bell he shook his head and then seemed to take an extra gulp of air as he marched back to his corner.

--Punching the Time Clock--

Pavlik's blue collar work ethic was once more on display to open the 7th, and he simply returned to drilling the champion with telephone pole-like left jabs that bounced off of Taylor head. With 2:21 to go in the round, the challenger scored with a sharp right hand to the face and then seconds later, Pavlik connected with a digging right hand to the ribs. The champion didn't flinch but the punch landed with a resounding thud.

Moments later the challenger scored with two more solid left jabs and then followed with a left hook to the belly. Taylor returned fire but again he was compelled to retreat as Pavlik simply kept pulling the trigger and never eased off the throttle against the champion.

With 59-seconds to go in the round and the fighters in the center of the ring, Pavlik landed another swift left jab followed by a clean right hand to the chin and the crowd let out a collective groan. Two more jabs proceeded a whip saw right cross that rocketed off of Taylor's jaw and his knees buckled. The champion retreated to the corner to make a final stand but Pavlik snapped his skull straight back with a crushing left uppercut just under the chin.

With the fight fans on their feet yet again, Pavlik unloaded a viscous seven–shot volley that sent Taylor reeling back against the ropes. The challenger measured his motionless target and then landed two more clubbing left hooks to the side of the skull and Taylor's legs gave way and he crashed to the floor just as the referee was trying to stop the attack.

Jermain Taylor's legs were pinned underneath him and his head slumped toward the ropes. Smoger dropped to one knee to render aid to the fallen fighter while across the ring Kelly Pavlik raised his arms in victory.

The longshot from Middle America, the guy with more heart than talent was suddenly the middleweight champion of the world and all dreams seemed suddenly possible, even in Youngstown.

--Berto Keeps Rolling TKO's Estrada--

Undefeated 24-year-old welterweight contender Andre Berto (20-0, 17 KO's) continued his quest for a title shot by scoring a 11th round TKO over tough and durable David Estrada (21-4, 12 KO's). The Winter Heaven, Florida fighter repeatedly was tested by the hard charging Estrada (148) who returned fire despite getting jolted by Berto (146).

With 52 seconds to go in the 5th of a fight scheduled for 12 rounds, Berto landed a whistling four-shot combination that richochtted off of Estrada's head and body. Estrada, Chicago, Illinois who like his opponent trains out of the Phantom Gym in Miami landed solid counters but Berto's faster hands began taking their toll against a very valiant boxer. At the 20-second mark of the round, Berto connected with a scalding combination that featured a brutal left hook to the head and a right cross that froze Estrada, 28 in his tracks if only for a moment. Berto, 5'8 ½", finished the exchange by bouncing another hard half dozen shots off of Estrada's skull and by the end of the 5th, the Chicago welterweight was showing the effects of younger man's accuracy.

Berto who represented Haiti at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, as the lone member of their Haitian Boxing Team began teeing off against the very tough fighter and Estrada, 5'9", eventually started to fade. The powerfully built Berto continue to rip away with digging body shots and with 1:47 remaining in the 8th, he connected with a withering five-punch combination that rocketed off of Estrada's head. With under a minute to go in the round, Berto hurt Estrada with a searing left hand to the belly followed by a right uppercut to the chin and three more clubbing blasts that forced to the Chicago boxer to retreat while almost doubling up under the high velocity assault.

Remarkably, Estrada came back firing punches but after each crisp exchange Berto's faster hands and power continued to wear down his courageous but outgunned opponent. Berto returned to hammering away at Estrada throughout the 9th and at the end of the round both the ringside doctor and the referee visited his corner to check on his condition.

--Show Stopper--

Berto simply kept moving forward while firing blazing shots that would have forced most men to surrender. Estrada answered the bell to open the 11th with heavy swelling under his left eye and once again he was on the business end of Berto sharp shots, as he continued to land leather. At the 2:06 mark of the round, Berto nailed Estrada with a head snapping counter right uppercut and the Atlantic City crowd let out a collective groan.

Berto bounced on his toes and then pulled the trigger on a laser-like right cross that caught Estrada square on the jaw and dropped him in his tracks. Estrada crashed to the canvas landing flat on his back with the soles of his boxing shoes pointed up at the ring light lights. Bleeding from both the nose and the mouth, Estrada struggled to his feet at the count of five and then staggered to an upright condition.

The referee David Fields would have been wise to stop the fight at that moment but he let the bout continue and Estrada moved forward with his gloves still down at his side once the action resumed. Berto answered by rushing across the ring and landing three more hard hooks that drove Estrada against the ropes and into the corner defenseless. Estrada's cornerman vaulted into the ring and started to sprint across the ring to stop the fight if the referee hesitated but even Fields finally made a move and halted the action at 1:17 of the 11th round.

With the victory, Andre Berto captured the NABF welterweight belt and the WBC and IBF title eliminator that could possibly set the stage for a showdown with Kermit Cintron, or the winner of Floyd Mayweather versus Ricky Hatton.

Undercard: In other action undefeated Detroit junior middleweight Robert "Motor City Cobra" Hearns (16-0, 13 KO's) scored a first round knockout over 34-year-old Ugandan Robert Kamya (16-8, 4 KO's). The 28-year-old Hearns (154) dropped and stopped Kamaya (156) at 2:42 of the 1st, in a bout scheduled for eight rounds.