Pavlik is not as good at 168 as he is at 160, so its hard to say. If he can adjust to 168 though, its a tough fight for Froch. KP has better technical skills and actually keeps his hands up. Froch would be fighting someone a few inches taller then him, and with better reach... so if KP can land that thudding jab and set up his right hand, its going to be a long night for Froch.. he keeps his hands just way to damn low.
All the Pavlik nut-huggers are on their way out to proclaim that Pavlik destroys Froch with ease. Froch has great chin, big heart and decent power. Unless Pavlik becomes a skilled/slick fighter overnight I see Froch overwhelming him to a UD.
Yes because Carl Froch has the ability and skill of a guy like Hopkins. No way in hell Froch "overwhelms" Pavlik to a UD , it would be a good fight. After watching Froch struggle with a much shorter guy for some rounds, how do you think he would fair against someone who is world class and taller? Froch also seemed to tire a greal deal, and if it wasn't for Pascal being completely gassed he could have had problems in latter rounds.. Pavlik has never shown that he get tired during fights.
Froch would overwhelm Pavlik with his strength, determination and throwing hard punches from crazy angles. Froch UD.
Froch based on chin, which is kind of simplistic but I think its the deciding factor. Both are really upright and slow, both have more holes than the finest Swiss cheese in their defence, both can punch...but I keep coming back to how many times Pavlik has been down, and not just down but hurt seriously.
If Taylor had him ready to go, Froch would most probably finish the job. I don't see Pavlik outboxing Carl at all, Taylor made him look like a pudding in the first fight, and Hopkins schooled his ass bad.
I'd pick Froch and I said the same thing last year. I think Pavlik would be ahead in rounds, but he'd be stopped by Froch at some stage. Maybe 7-8 rounds. Good fight to make though.
Kelly has been jumping around between divisions for his entire career. His lightest weight at weigh in was 154. His highest was 169. Below 160 he was a drained middleweight. Above 160 he was a blown up middleweight. One good example is this: Pavlik/Taylor II was contested at 166, but Kelly weighed less on fight night than he did for Miranda at 160. My point here is that it is a bit naive to assume that if KP was committed to 168, he'd be exactly the same as the division hopping version. If Pavlik was committed to 168, and added the weight the right way, he would beat seven shades of **** out of Carl Froch. So would any other heavy handed fighter with decent fundamentals.
I assume you are reffering to the first Taylor fight in which Pavlik was down for 2 seconds, got up and weathered the storm for the remaining round, and brutally destroyed the previous undefeated champ.