Is Pavlick cherry picking?

Yeah. All this SMW crap started with Calslappy calling him out. Isn't he allowed to be a MW ffs?

 

Boo found the poll, not me. AA's move to SMW was a 'secret move'. Saurland was in New York supposedly negotiating the fight even after the decision to move AA up to SMW and into the tourney had already been made. Timing never matched up before Bhop and the money was never there after. It is what it is....

 

In a debate such as this one historical context matters. Pavlik knocked out the undamaged, undefeated, undisputed middleweight champion of the world 29 months ago.

It's only been 24 months since the rematch. The Taylor rematch was not a title defense because of the 166 pound weight limit. The weight was Jermain Taylor's stipulation, not Kelly's. It was all written into the original contract. Hopkins tried to beat Taylor twice, and failed. Winky Wright tried to beat Taylor, and failed. When KP scored a pretty clear UD over Jermain he succeeded where a a living legend, and a sure fire hall of famer failed.

Three months later Pavlik fought WBO mandatory Gary Lockett. Boxing fans seem to have very short memories. At the time everyone understood that Arum, Warren, and HBO manipulated Lockett's ranking becuase he was an Enzo Calzaghe fighter. At that time Slappy Joe could barely speak in complete sentences without saying "Kelly Pavlik." At the end of the day Joe ran the other direction.

The situation with Calzaghe left Kelly without a fall 2008 opponent. Top Rank tried to get Winky, but good old winky priced himself out. He refused $1.4 million and other considerations, and then sat on his ass and whined. Next they tried to get Williams because PW had been running his mouth as usual. Williams turned down what would have been a career high pay day, and priced himself out. BHop stepped up, and Kelly and Bernard made a deal in about a weeks time, no bull****, both guys just said "let's do this." (Anyone who thinks KP ducked Abraham so he could fight Hopkins is out of their ****ing mind!)

A short 4 months later Pavlik handed Rubio a beating. Rubio has 11 fights at 160. His only loss at the weight was Pavlik. He won a legit eliminator, and then got thumped. Since then he has fought twice, and won both by KO.

After that it was time for KP to renegotiate his deal with Top Rank. Arum tried to shove Sergio Mora down Kelly's throat, but that fight disappeared during the negotiations for a new deal with Top Rank. By this time KP had already stated that he wanted the summer off to spend time with his family since his wife just had a baby.

Then the staph infection turned into a serious problem. After a brush with death, two surgeries, a hospital stay, and two failed efforts to make the PW fight happen, the WBC told KP to fight before the end of the year, or they would strip him. Top Rank had to find an opponent KP could beat with one good hand, who would take the fight on short notice. Espino, to his credit, stepped up and took his shot.

Pavlik's hand came through just fine. Afterward Pavlik and Arum stood center ring and laughed at Williams. The deal that would net PW a career high pay day and a shot at the middleweight championship of the world is still on the table. Goosen took Williams into protective custody, but Sergio Martinez took the fight.

 

As has been pointed out before, if Kelly goes to SMW now and beats Bute, then what? There are only certain fights HBO will back and that is the reality of the situation. Most of the other fighters that HBO would sanction are tied up in the tourney. And after the tourney? The pool actually dwindles down to ONE! That is the down side of the tourney. You know boxing. There will be one winner and the rest are just losers. Sorry to inject reality. They have said when Kelly moves up, it will be a permanent move. He simply can't fight Bute yet because if he wins there are no other fights.

 

Again. That is not the reality in the perception of the boxing public. IF Kelly beats Bute and then the tourney winner the big bucks from HBO could be done. For sure if he moves up now and beats Bute there won't be much HBO money available for the other names at SMW until after the tourney. This ain't rocket science.

 

I really like Kelly, but even in victory he's not going to look impressive in this fight. Sergio Martinez is too skilled. He's a spoiler for anyone who is willing to fight him.

 

I'm not willing to make too many concessions to the "cherry picking" argument. However, I will concede that Pavlik over Martinez is not a great win. It will only prove that Pavlik can still terrorize small middleweights who have poor defense and questionable stamina.

 

Just going by past practice here. They pretty much disowned Kelly after the Bhop fight.