After reading this article--their trainers dont respect each other at all--hopefully it leads to this fight down the road--Pavliks trainer saying maybe as early as October! This would be great! YOUNGSTOWN If you think Kelly Pavliks trainer wasnt going to respond to Enzo Calzaghes Loew blow, well, you dont know Jack. Calzaghe who trains Pavliks next opponent, Gary Lockett challenged Loew to place a wager on the June 7 bout, saying, If hes so confident in his fighter, then why doesnt he put his house on Pavlik winning? What hell tell you is, No way, Jose. Loews response? Whatever he wants to bet on the Lockett fight, I will bet him, Loew said. Anything. Its legal in Atlantic City. I want his money. The comments were just the latest in whats become a war of words between the two fighters and their trainers leading up to the bout in Atlantic City. Last month, after watching Calzaghes son, Joe, decision 43-year-old Bernard Hopkins, Loew said, Maybe Enzo can teach Lockett to slap like a girl just like Joe. Calzaghe fired back by comparing resumes. I had to go on the Internet because Id never even heard of this person Jack Loew, Calzaghe said. And all I found was that he paves driveways. Well, once Lockett has dealt with Pavlik and Loew is out of boxing then at least he can go back to paving driveways. Ive got no one to answer to. Ive trained four world champions, Ive got other champions in my gym. I won trainer of the year in America for 2007. Loew wasnt impressed and said the only reason anyone has heard of Enzo is because of his son Joe, who holds the super middleweight title. Loew also wasnt impressed with Enzos other champions. His last champ, Enzo Maccarinelli, was knocked out by David Haye [in the second round in March], Loew said. Gavin Rees lost his welterweight title when he was knocked out in the 12th round. What the [heck] is he talking about? Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs), however, has been the super middleweight champion for more than a decade, something Enzo was quick to point out. When Pavlik is world champion for 11 years and has made 21 title defenses then I will listen to Loew, but Pavlik hasnt even held his title for a year yet, he said. All I can say is that Joe must slap pretty hard because hes knocked out 32 of his opponents and been an undefeated world champion for more than a decade. Ask Bernard Hopkins, Jeff Lacy and Mikkel Kessler if Joe Calzaghe slaps. Loew again wasnt impressed and said Calzaghe has benefited from fighting inferior competition. Hes knocked out 32 opponents, but 32 what, though? Loew said. The only thing hes done is expose Jeff Lacy, which would have happened anyway. As far as Bernard Hopkins, he was a 43-year-old man. This guy is attacking me and hes got nothing on his plate. If Manny Steward did it, its different. Hes trained 100 world champions. This guy has three and two just got knocked out. Loew said he was open to a Pavlik-Calzaghe fight in the near future. Were willing to move up to super middleweight, said Loew. It might be next year, it might be in October. Who knows? It might be our next fight. Were open to anything. As for Pavlik, Enzo gave him credit for beating Jermain Taylor twice, but said he has not seen anything from Kelly Pavlik whatsoever that worries me. Hes a good fighter but hes mechanical. Its the same thing, same thing, same thing all the time. Loew seemed to enjoy those comments most of all. Everybody who has talked junk, Kelly has destroyed them, said Loew. They got the worse [butt]-whupping of their lives. Were giving this guy the opportunity of a lifetime. We could have bypassed him and chased a money fight, but he deserved a shot and Kelly wanted to give him a shot. Now he and his trainer are shooting their mouths off. Stay tuned. The talk isnt likely to stop anytime soon, especially since itll serve to create interest in the fight. If it puts more people in the stands, great, Loew said. Im not trying to be disrespectful or rude. Im just responding. And if I can throw a jab in there, Im happy to do it.
You know what.... if Pavlik hits as hard as thought, I think JC can be floored. He's shown that he can be hit and Pavlik is pretty accurate. BUT, if he can't floor Calzhage, he loses.
I really don't want to see this fight, its better for boxing if Pavlik becomes the dominant force in the middleweight division, continuing ko wins by much smaller guys. Calzaghe has the edge in this fight and I pick Joe to win a UD against the much younger inexperienced Pavlik
Blockbuster on tap? According to a Yahoo! Sports article that was published Wednesday, Arum has had preliminary discussions about a Pavlik bout with unbeaten super middleweight and light heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe sometime in November. Arum said such a bout, if it were made, would be held at 168 pounds. That would give Pavlik, if he defeats Lockett, the opportunity to hold the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight titles at the same time. Only boxing hall of fame inductee Henry Armstrong, considered one of the four best fighters ever, has held three titles at once. Armstrong held the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight titles simultaneously in 1937
Calzaghe would school Pavlik. Yes he can be floored, but it takes a special fighter to beat Calzaghe, one capable of switching tactics every couple of rounds to keep Joe guessing, something he has done consistently throughout his career. Hopkins was the man to beat Joe, but was lazy and deserved to be on the wrong end of the split decision.
I would love to see this match, but I have my doubts about it being made. Both men would have to make weight adjustments to make it happen, and frankly I think Calzaghe would rather persue paydays with the likes of either Jones or Tarver. It would certainly be one of the best matchups around if it came to pass though.
Pavlick is good at what he does but hes nothing special. This fight will get much more hype than it deserves. Everyone knows that Jermaine Taylor was speed and hype but that was it. Pavlick got too much credit for beating Taylor who beat an old slow Hopkins and built a name for it while not looking so great in the process.
pavlik whould win calzaghe's SMW title only. thats like saying calzaghe would win pavlik MW title if he won. you can't win a wieght class title if you don't fight at that wieght.
This fight is the one I want to see, but I think that maybe it would be best if Joe fight Jones first and Pavlik fights Abarham, then after these fights they meet at MSG.