Before Pavlik gets to fight Calzaghe...

The trouble is that of all those listed the only one who is even close to setting up a fight with Pavlik is Abraham. ( and that's sometime in January ) Wright is pricing himself into retirement and Sturm has no interest in fighting folks who could actually beat him.

 

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A couple problems......
First Joe is fast enough on his feet to stay outside the range of Pavlik's jab. Pavlik will try to counter by cutting off the ring and aggressively charging Joe down but Joe is a slippery one.

Second, Joe is a rhythm fighter. As the fight progresses he starts to time his opponent's attack and counterattacks. He charges in, lands a combination, and backs off before his opponent can mount a serious counter-offensive. He did it against Kessler and he did it against Hopkins. And given Pavlik's admittedly average to slow hand speed he may well do it against him as well. As Pavlik rarely clinches it'll be up to Pavlik's aggressiveness and workrate to prevent Joe from setting up that rhythm.

Third, Joe's actually a fairly tough customer. He can take a good punch and he doesn't seem to suffer any stanima problems. While Pavlik does have some spectacular knock-outs on his record they tend to come after he has tenderized his opponent for a while. Pavlik will need to be landing on a consistent basis for this to happen.

Finally, Joe's punching power is underrated. I've seen him throw some hard shots. From my perspective it looks like Joe feels that throwing damaging shots leaves him exposed and won't risk doing it unless he's in firm control of the fight or fighting someone who doesn't have any real power of their own. Against Pavlik he may have no choice. If Pavlik's aggression and workrate is such that Joe can't keep him at a "safe" distance then he'll need to apply some hurt to force Pavlik to show more caution when charging in.

I see this as a good fight. Aggression, power, stanima, and workrate vs. incredible handspeed, good footwork, and good stanima. Both intelligent fighters. Both capable of adjusting their fight plan as the fight progresses. Both with a lot of heart.

 

Excellent Post! Very, very good argument for the Calzaghe side of the equation.

 

I think you're misinterpreting things. Kelly has all along said he wants to "clean out the MW division". So, he fan base is reinterating what Kelly has been expressing.

Calz lately has been the one calling out Kelly, but against B-Hop when asked by Kellerman; B-hop or Pavlik, Calz said B-hop. (So called, "Legend Killer")

Personally, I think all KP fans would love a matchup with Calz. Hell, I think Kelly would fight him for free.

 

I'm actually torn between Calzaghe and Abraham. On the one hand I would love to see Pavlik take Joe's zero away from him. On the other hand I want to see Pavlik stick to his plan and become the undisputed champ at 160. Right now Pavlik and Calzaghe have completely different agendas. Their respective plans and schedules do not match up at all. Joe is looking to retire, but Kelly is only 25 and hasn't even hit his prime yet. The only way Pavlik/Calzaghe happens is if Abraham loses to Miranda. If that happens, Team Pavlik may change their minds about the best course of action.

 

Kelly's Dad was on the radio last night and made the comment; After watching the B-Hop fight, he would love to see Kelly fight Cal. He also said he doesn't think it'll happen, at least not next, because Jones going over to Wales to fight is going to be huge money and Joe is banking on his "legend killer" comment.