Pavlik and Andrade aren't that different, and Bute handled Andrade with ease for most of the first fight and destroyed him the second. Kelly is a great middle, but I don't think he operates well north of 160, add into that he has problems with slicksters and Bute is all wrong for him.
I understand what you are saying, but make that list for me. Sturm? He wants the fight and a bucket of money and has legal trouble. I keep forgetting the other belt holder's name. I doubt he'd take the fight anyhow and HBO isn't interested. The possibilities drop off from there. Hence the talk of the move up. But if he targets Bute and gets by him, that leaves the winner of the tourney and not much else as far as HBO is concerned. You will have 5 "losers" that will be lesser draws. That is the downside of the tourney. Yeah, I mention HBO a lot but that IS the financial reality of boxing right now.
Seriously? Andrade's "talent" is his chin. To bad he forgot the body. Pavlik is a MUCH more skilled and faster than Andrade.
True. But if there is no one else to fight at 160 lbs, Pavlik should move up a few pounds because he can afford to do so, being a big MW, and he should target any of the fighters who are better than the ones he could have targeted at 160, whether they are Champs or unbeaten. His fans deserve those kind of fights and the American boxing public deserves those kind of fights - Pavlik has the support of HBO and he is a big star and he's been making a lot of money so he has a duty to fight the best he can at his weightclass or a few pounds north of his weight class at this stage of his career.
I like Bute in this one ..Though Pavlik is dangerous I like Bute's ability to Box with Pop ..It most likely goes the distance ..
Bute also beat Bika, currently ranked #5 by the ring. Andrade is currently ranked #9 by the ring. Also, Andrade has a dominant win over Steiglitz, the ring magazine #10 SMW.