Goosen says Ward/Pavlik "in talks"

The problem is, when Abraham does his customary last minute surges he will be caving Pavliks face in with sledgehammers as Pavlik cant avoid them

Pavlik is done, he's booze marinated, his body is shot.

 

Agree completely. It would be a bad strategy overall. If he was looking for a cash out, I'm not sure I would cash out against Ward. If I were trying to get my career back on track and make several more fights out of my career, I would not jump from Rosinsky to Ward.

I still think he should take 1 more fight, a gradually step up, before he takes on the major players at 168. The reasons that I think he needs 1 more fight 1) Froch is tied up for an extensive period of time, and Kessler is tied up. 2). Pavlik has kind of looked underwhelming in recent fights 3). Most important, if I were moving Pavlik's career I would not fight Ward simply because he's available. These are the following I would look into:

1). Edwin Rodriguez- Not sure if he's considered a step up due to his own struggles with Rosinsky, but he's a rising prospect.

2). Adonis Stevenson- If Stevenson impressively stops Don George it can create a little more buzz around him. I believe Stevenson is also the #1 contender to Froch, which is a fight Pavlik has said he wants. I also think this is a winnable fight for Pavlik (though dangerous)

3). Arthur Abraham- Comes with a belt, this fight was desparately wanted years ago, why not now? This is also a very winnable fight for Pavlik and one he might look impressive in.

4).Robert Stieglitz- I don't expect this to even be looked into, but it would be good for him to take out a former champ if he's just going to wait for Froch or Kessler's schedules to clear up.

 

I used to think the same thing as you. The difference now is that Ward has dominated everyone in and around Kelly's weight so losing to Ward and even by landslide is not really that bad imo, because everyone else has anyway.

And Pavlik can get a good pay day and if he makes it even close that is a lot better then anyone else has done. So I think the fight should be made. And Kelly always has the punchers chance and that would be huge if he did that.

 

Ward will probably stop Kelly late.

 

It's hard to imagine Kelly getting Ward out of there.

It just seems that if he took Ward straight off of Rosinsky it would be a cashout....and if he wanted to cash himself out, I think there are ways he could make more money than taking on Ward straight away.

If he began negotiations with Ward he doesn't have much to bring to the table. All he really has is "I was a really big name in 2007-08 and really haven't done much of anything since then". Realistically, the PPVs he did...didn't do well. Ward is coming off a fight where over 1 million people watched on HBO.....and he has 2 belts. Pavlik has no belts and hasn't been put on HBO/Showtime in quite some time...also take into consideration he has pulled out of fights on numerous occasions and from that standpoint has a reputation of being reliable.

It seems to me, he has a better chance of making more money and winning fighting other guys.

I think the only person that benefits from a Ward/Pavlik matchup is Ward.

 

I don't think Pavlik has much to lose against Ward though. If he gets dominated its no big deal because so has everyone else.

If Pavlik loses every round against Ward I still think he could get fights with Froch or Chavez or some other name in and around his weight. And maybe it will get him more in the mix of things.

I think its time for Pavlik to make his move, he even said himself he does not really need any more tune ups after his last fight. He has been in the game for 12 years. He just needed to get the alcohol out of his system to get that little bit of athleticsm he has back.

A fighter like Kelly has to be clean even more so then most fighters because he did not have much speed to lose in the first place. And he needs a high work rate to beat these top fighters.

 

Abraham, Stieglitz, and Oosthuizen are the "bigger names" of the division he should be going after.

Ward would beyond massacre Pavlik, Kessler would do damage in an easy win, and I think to a lesser extent the same would probably happen with Froch.

That said, I would def pick him to KO Bute if they were matched up to fight.

 

How can u say if garcia did help pavlik if pavlik have face cab drivers since his return? Lets see if pavlik really improved by facing a better opponent.

 

His lifestyle won't alow him to make 160 anymore. I agree that he'd hold decisive physical advantages against most MW's but if you can't make the weight, you can't make the weight. I'd rather see him make 168 healthily and do his best than try to drain down to 160 and be a shadow of himself.

 

It didn't hurt him. The change of environment is good. He is around boxing people in Oxnard. However...

 

Would love to see Pavlik and Oosthuizen in the ring.

 

Ward would be a horrendous choice for Pavlik's career.

 

From what I remember reading at the time. Pavlik was calling out Froch. When Froch began looking for an opponent we started hearing Pavilik needed a few more fights, didn't want to come to the UK etc.