What exactly is the problem with Pavlik-Mora?

Pavlik was recently dominated by Hopkins who beat him with his movement, timing, and when necessary aggression.

While Mora is definitely not on Hopkins level and usually isn't aggressive enough, he still is a slick counterpuncher.

I agree it's a somewhat "safe" fight considering Mora doesn't have any power and rarely commits to his punches, but it will still be a difficult fight for Pavlik because Mora has good movement and a good jab.

Pavlik needs this type of fight because he's young and he's planning on staying at 160, where there is another fighter similiar to Mora who happens to hold a belt, named Felix Sturm.

I mean, put it into perspective: How many great fighters did Bernard Hopkins fight when he was at middleweight?

And nothing against Hopkins as I consider him among the best in the game, but my point is that occassionaly a fighter is going to take on somewhat lackluster competition, but it's all part of gaining experience for a young fighter.

I doubt Pavlik wants a repeat of what happened against him when he fought Hopkins, so in order to avoid this, he's fighting Mora to gain experience with a counterpunching style.

Nobody wants to be labeled as a one dimensional fighter that can be beaten by a good counterpuncher.

As far as Abraham is concerned, he has a fight right now, so what's the rush?

I think Pavlik is a guy that's in touch with his fans, so I believe that fight with Abraham is on the horizon and might be made after the fight with Mora, depending on the outcome of course.

The only thing that would bother me about this fight is if it's on PPV.

 

I'm not so sure about that, but the fact is Pavlik needs work with counterpunchers in order to be a complete fighter and potentially become an ATG if that's his goal.

 

But who else can you think of in the middleweight division that's a slick counterpuncher?

I can only think of Sturm, but from what I hear about that guy is that he's ascared to fight anybody and everybody.

Either way, I think it's critical for Pavlik that he learns to fight against movers and Mora fits that description.

He's not elite, but he's a solid fighter.

If he had a punch it might be a different story.

 

I'll admit that I don't know anything about that guy with 11 consonants in his name, but Forrest and Martinez are tied up in a fight and I don't think Santos is slick enough.

I think Santos would get blasted out, plus he's a southpaw which may not be what Pavlik's team is looking for.

And while I think Forrest WOULD fight Pavlik for what would be a big payday, right now he's tied up and that leaves only Mora and that guy with 11 consonants who may or may not be willing to fight Pavlik.

So I think this is a good fight for Pavlik.

 

But that's the thing, Calzaghe is on a different level than Pavlik. And despite the fact that Pavlik failed to win one round against Hopkins, clearly exposing Pavlik as having a weakness against counterpunchers, people still wanna put him on the same level as Floyd and Calzaghe when in my opinion, it's clear he's not.

Pavlik is still a work in progress, Floyd and Calzaghe are not. That's the difference.