Pavlik vs. Mora is postponed! JuanMa new main event.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4153157

Updated: May 8, 2009, 7:41 PM ET
Pavlik's stap infection postpones fight

By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com

Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik has a nagging staph infection on one of his hands, which forced his June 27 title defense against former junior middleweight titlist Sergio Mora to be postponed on Friday.



The bout, which has been set since March, was originally scheduled to be announced Saturday in Las Vegas on the morning of the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton bout but moved back until Tuesday in New York to allow Pavlik time to see his doctor.


Pavlik made that visit Friday and was told he shouldn't fight, Top Rank president Todd duBoef told ESPN.com.



"He had an infection and it hasn't healed yet," duBoef said. "He went in today. [Manager] Cameron [Dunkin] called Bob [Arum] and said Kelly wouldn't be ready to fight and that was it."


The bout was supposed to take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., and headline a Top Rank pay-per-view show.



Although Pavlik, who had stitches in his hand, is out of the fight, the show will go on, duBoef said.


Top Rank's plan is to move the card out of the cavernous Boardwalk Hall, where Pavlik has drawn big crowds, into the smaller 4,000-seat arena upstairs at Boardwalk Hall or move the show to the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.



Junior featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez (25-0, 23 KOs), coming off a ninth-round destruction of Gerry Penalosa two weeks ago, will move into the main event and defend his title against an opponent to be named.


"We'll try to reschedule the Pavlik fight, maybe for September," duBoef said. "But we're still going June 27. We'll keep the show together and keep it on the East Coast. We'll lower the price of the pay-per-view to $39.95 and go with 'Juanma' in the main event. We'll make it one of our 'Latin Fury' cards."



The other bouts slated for the card remain intact. Fernando Montiel will defend his bantamweight title against former flyweight titlist Eric Morel and junior welterweight rising prospect is expected to meet former titleholder Paulie Malignaggi. Junior middleweight prospect Vanes Martirosyan, a 2004 U.S. Olympian, may also appear on the card against Andrey Tsurkan as well as featherweight contender Mario Santiago.


"We were booked to go to New York on Monday for the Tuesday press conference, so this is a surprise to us," said Tournament of Contenders promoter Jeff Wald, who promotes Mora. "Sergio is taking it hard. We're all disappointed."



Wald said he'd like to get Mora a stay-busy fight this summer before rescheduling the bout.


"We're going to talk about it Monday or Tuesday," Wald said. "I'd love for him to have an interim fight just to stay busy. He's already been in training for two weeks."



Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) is coming off a dominant ninth-round knockout of Marco Antonio Rubio in his second title defense on Feb. 21. Mora (21-1-1, 5 KOs), who won the first season of "The Contender" reality series, hasn't fought since September, when he lost a unanimous decision and his junior middleweight title to Vernon Forrest in their rematch.