Or do they?

Bill Dwyre writes that Kelly Pavlik should have knocked Jermain Taylor out in their rematch this last weekend.

Unlike the movies, computer games, or the Wii, the fights are real. At the championship level, both men use every bit of their talent, courage and survival skills to stay upright, and to win. The knockout blow is quite literally a no-brainer; it can be seen from the back of the arena, and can be replayed from various camera angles on pay-per-view. But a true contest between well-matched warriors is about more than a single blow, or a story line that suits a sportswriter. It is elementally, brutally, beautifully real -- knockout or not.

Bill Dwyre ought to know that. If he doesn’t, or if he has forgotten, then someone else who understands ought to write the boxing column.

Oliver Mayer

Los Angeles