I still haven't seen the replay of the fight, but I'm wondering whether the cut in the 9th was the 'real' culprit here. But.. [url]http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/apr/19/what8217s-next-for-kelly/[/url] When Ray Boom Boom Mancini was nearing the end of his career and was asked what he thought of his opponent, hed often reply, Which one? I was fighting the scale first, then fighting my opponent, he said. So as he watched Kelly Pavliks lethargic finish in Saturdays loss to Sergio Martinez, Mancini got some unpleasant flashbacks. The last few fights of my career, I couldnt make the weight, he said by phone Sunday afternoon after watching the fight on HBO at home in Los Angeles. And thats Kellys problem.
Well its pretty obvious Pavlik can't make 160 anymore. No fighter at that weight should be coming into the ring at 178. But Pavlik's problem is that he is slow and has problems at higher weights. His career is pretty much done if he can't make 160 because he'll get eaten alive at 168 and 175. It would be slaughter.
Pavlik could have come into the ring at 200lbs. He still would have had his ass handed to him. It's just a question of styles. He doesn't work well against counter punchers who posess very good lateral movement.
Yeah. I haven't seen the replay yet but from what I've heard, I think it was a punch that changed the fight. Kelly said the blood was in his eye almost immediately and Martinez capitalized and turned the tide. From where I was I could tell the tide turned, but I couldn't tell why.
People keep talking about Pavlik moving up to 168... but who can he beat? Ward? Not a prayer Dirrell? Not likely (puncher's chance) Froch? Doubt it Bute? Nope Abraham? Probably not Kessler? Don't think so Green? Possibly, but unlikely. I guess it's down to the likes of Manfredo, Brinkley, Vanda etc... back on ESPN.
Stylistically I think he matches up ok with Froch and Abraham. However, at this time I'm guessing that his confidence is totally shot. I'd like to see him brought back slowly. If Lacy is still fighting then maybe that would be a good option to take. A low risk fight against a reasonably well known name.
The fight was starting to turn to Pavlik around rounds 6-8 and he actually had him hurt but wasn't able to finish him off. I'm not talking about the "knockdown" either. The punch in round 9 that opened up the cut over the right eye was the end of the fight in my opinion. It should have been stopped and Martinez just beat his ass for the remainder of the fight.