Kelly Pavlik Road to Redemption: What he should do vs What will happen.

I am a big Kelly Pavlik fan and I have essentially been on this site for around 2 years. As you can see I believe this is my 10th post. I have stayed idle because I did not want to get into the back and forth banter of trashing boxers and just defending mine. As I said we are fans, we are not the fighters and most of us are not in there camps. We do not hear what's going on behind the scenes. Honestly what's going on between Pavlik and Williams is ridiculous. Is Williams scared of Pavlik? No! Is Kelly scared of Williams? No. However, I do believe the Promoters and Networks are the ones responsible for what has recently transpired. Promoters are selfish and look out for themselves, not the best interest of the fighters. That's why you see Pavlik fighting these bums and Williams handlers cherry picking a past his prime Winky Wright. It's annoying at best.

I am a fan, but I do look at things in a objectively. Now I have put a few of my thoughts into a few different threads but instead of going back and forth to other threads I figured I would start my own on this subject.

Right now Kelly Pavlik has lost alot of credibility from the boxing world and even in his hometown. Hence there were only 3,000 on hand at the Beeghly Center against Espino. I remember when Kelly beat Jermain Taylor he talked about cleaning out the division. Which at the time had Sturm and Abraham as the title holders. Instead of doing what he wanted, his handlers became greedy and wanted to make a quick buck. He fights and beats Jermain again which is a good win in a tough fight. He fought his mandatory and then should of targeted Abraham. Instead his handlers go after Williams a WW and then Winky ( Past His Prime) but ultimately choose a Lose-Lose situation against a LHW in Bernard Hopkins. Right now Kelly's career has taken a hit and he is still the WBC, WBO and Ring MW Champion. He does have a shot at building himself back up but this is how I think he should do it.

What he should Do:

1. Target Felix Sturm (WBA Middleweight Champion). If I am Kelly and had any control I would even go as far as going over to Germany and fighting Sturm. I know Sturm would have a judging advantage but Kelly can KO him and the Judges can't stop that. I believe that would start building some credibility back up for Pavlik.

2. Target the IBF Champion. Sylvester has a fight on Jan 30 against Pablo Navascues. I do not know much about either fighter but it really does not matter. Kelly needs to dispose of Sturm and then Grab this title. I know Kelly would easily handle either of these fighters.

3. Mandatory WBC title fight with Sebastian Zbik. It is a Joke that he is the Interim champ but he will be the Mandatory here shortly and Kelly could get rid of him.

That would roughly take a year and half to two years to accomplish that. It would keep Kelly busy while showing he is determined to be the only middleweight champion. He builds his creditability as being the Unified MW Champion and gives time for the other Middleweights who were on the same path that Kelly was on a few years ago to build up there reputations and become a name in the division. Instead of jumping around from division to division he can just stay in the weight class that has made him successful.

after 1 threw 3 are accomplished

4. Paul Williams: provided Paul Williams is still winning and setting himself up for championships. How could Williams Handlers turn down a fight with the undisputed Champion? Kelly's handlers couldn't turn down a Williams offer if he presented first. However it would not be a 50/50 split because of Pavlik's status at that time.

5. Mandatory Fight: I am sure the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO will have a mandatory for him however, it would probably be a pretty tough up and coming opponent who was waiting on the doorstep.

6. After Wiping out the Division then I could see how Kelly could want to Move up to 168. I would love him to stay at 160 for the rest of his career but I do not see that happening.

Now on to What Will Happen:

1. Pavlik vs Martinez: a LMW who did fight at 160 vs Williams but that does not make him a 160 fighter. He is tough as nails and HBO wants the fight. I can see where it could bring Pavlik some creditability if he disposed of him at any point in the fight. It would then put Williams in a tough spot.

2. Pavlik vs Williams: This saga has been going on long enough. I believe the handlers are balking at this fight because of the fear of one of the fighters losing. It really would hurt Pavlik more than Williams. If Williams loses, he lost to a 160 MW champ and can go back down in weight and dominate. If Kelly loses he basically lost to a 147 champion and takes a big hit.

3. Mandatory or move to 168. I believe Kelly will have a mandatory vs Zbik for the WBC title. However, watching how Kelly's people handle him I see him forgoing this fight to fight for who ever is the Super Middleweight champion. Bute or whoever wins the super 6.

I believe a path to 168 may do Kelly in. I do not want to see him fall apart and moving up in class against fighters that can take his punches. He is known as a KO artist and doesn't look pretty in fights. So i would see him losing some fights to the scorecards at 168. But at 160 it's a different story.

I believe there is a distinct difference in what should happen and what will happen. I would like to see the rise of Kelly Pavlik again. That is why I believe my laid out plan would bring him back to where he was a few years ago. But I doubt that will happen, unless his handlers change there ways.

your thoughts?

 

As you can see, I am commenting from a distance since I moved out of Ohio. But everything leading up now has just been a disaster. I will not claim to know everything, just seeing things from my point of view with some research. But there are people on this site that are in the "Know" or close to it.

If Kelly goes up to 168 I hope they handle him the right way. I think Kelly can match up well with Froch or Kessler. I believe Ward will give him fits, Dirrell will just run around the ring. Maybe fight Stieglitz? But I see 168 being a few years away because of the fact Kelly rushed back to keep his belts.