Had this happened (and it was a tragedy it never), who would you have picked to win & how? Part of me thinks Pavlik outworks him, the other part remembers how bloody durable AA was at MW. He was a tank in his prime.
At the time I thought Abraham but then he moved up and the likes of Froch and eubank jr showed he can be outboxed Pavlik ud
I think this encounter would feature Pavlik throwing a lot of 1-2s that bounce of the guard of Abraham while having some success going to the body, while Abraham scores occasionally with his flurries. It seemed to me that Abraham lost some of his ambition after he wracked up some Ls at 168. He really fell into that bad habit of giving away early rounds for free, and for only fighting in 5 second spurts. He always had that 'sprint then rest' style, but it reached a point of near self-parody once he settled in at supper middle. That said, Abraham ended up accomplishing a lot more at 168 than I would have predicted around the time of the Ward loss. Too bad we never saw a fight with fellow super six alum, Mikkel Kessler.
Abraham would have been beaten up by Pavlik, either a UD, or late stoppage. He had his fair share of hometown cooking as well.
I was feeling Abe at the time. I think he was a little underrated then, and maybe still a little bit now. In hindsight I'd lean toward KP. Not enough lateral movement from AA, Pavlik would just hit that guard all night keeping him shelled up..shaking off the occasional big counter.
Intheory Pavlik, but seeing him bleed against Miranda, Martinez & Hop, I think one of those hard shots from Abe would also bust him up. Some fighters can fight thru the blood. Possible it is a come from behind shot. The very shot that dropped Andre Direll (b4 his final controversial hit) and had him slide on his butt like he was cleaning the canvas with it, can also cut Kelly. Abe comes back & wins the last 3-4 rounds due to a blood letting making it closer than what it should've been Pavlik by SD.