Bute-Pavlik will look eerily familiar

It will be Calzaghe-Kessler déjà vu. :deal

The more you think about it, the more it'll ring true.

Neither Pavlik nor Bute is as technically proficient as their counterparts in the comparison, but their styles, stances, and strengths will mesh in almost exactly the same way.

Think about the likeliest scenario to play out should Bute and Pavlik step in the ring together.

Pavlik will try to set the pace early, wading in behind his jab (or simply holding the lead hand out, extended at arm's length) and following with right hands down the pipe or whipping them underhand to the body. Bute will bounce out of the way on his toes, utilize the shoulder roll, and look to spring traps with lead lefts and left uppercuts.

The two would then settle into a fairly predictable pattern, of Pavlik doggedly stalking and Bute employing his greater dimensions of movement (circling left, occasionally switching direction, stepping forth with a flurry and falling into a clinch). Pavlik will throw fewer, harder, straighter punches. Bute, never squaring up, will throw less powerful shots and of the sweeping type that allow quick alternation between hands, but he will throw many of them, and many of them together, and quickly.

The only adjustment Pavlik will make - the only one he will be capable of - will be an increase in punch variety. It won't be enough. The southpaw's plane of motion will not be hospitable to the left hook. Pavlik's thought process will become singular - stick to him like glue, just get close and figure it out when you're there. Bute will get the better of the infighting exchanges, as Pavlik's power is optimal when he can use his reach to ideal effect. Bute's head movement, ability to string together a greater multitude of punches and from a much wider range of angles, and footspeed will be the difference makers. Pavlik, with determination unscathed and offensive form remaining fundamentally consistent and dangerous throughout, would keep it from being what you could call a schooling, and his desperation in later rounds would create some moments of high drama, but Bute's ring intelligence will see him through.

Substitute the names Calzaghe for Bute; Kessler for Pavlik, and switch from future to past tense, and that's a pretty accurate write-up.

 

Wow...wtf. :?

It's cool that a thread of mine that clearly had some thought put into it but got completely ignored for most of two years is finally taking on some life....I guess?

 

Yeah, 2009 IB was spot on and not a whole lot has changed about their dynamic except that Bute is peaking right now and Pavlik is looking sub-par in his comeback so far...so the outcome might be more along the lines of Calzaghe-Lacy (but the styles blending would still visually evoke Calzaghe-Kessler).