What is the best case that can be made for Pavlik as the best opponent for Calzaghe

Agree, minus rd 6. I had the 6th 10-9 Pavlik. Felt he was more aggressive and landed cleaner/ more shots.

 

i like pavlik but i just can't see anyway he can beat calzaghe other than giving him the proverbial punchers chance.i really don't see what more he brings to the table than kessler in fact he probably brings less.the one glaring weakness he has is his defence,lets face it he is easy to hit,and any fighter going in against calzaghe who is easy to hit is in for an extremely hard night.

 

By the time Bronco "Superman" McKart fought Kelly he was no longer a world class fighter. Some would aurgue that he never was world class. However, he was, and still is, good enough to give most "B" level guys a very long night. I was excited about the prospect of McKart winning the NABF title from Pavlik and getting back in the mix enough to make a couple more good pay days before he retires. I got quite a surprise, and instanly became a Pavlik fan.

It was THE WAY Pavlik destroyed him that I thought was impressive. McKart, being a southpaw, was holding his left real high to keep from eating the straight right over the top. Kelly's corner told Kelly to watch how high Bronco was holding the left, and go to the body under Bronco's left elbow, and BANG; Bronco, who had never even been down before, got Pavlikated!! A cagey southpaw and veteran of over 50 fights made one ****ing mistake, and the FIGHT WAS OVER!

The Zuniga fight was a brutal war where Kelly proved that you have to do a lot more than just hurt him in order to beat him. Zuniga, who is now rated somewhere in or near the top ten at 168, failed to answer the bell for round ten, and after the fight left the middleweight division and moved up.

Zertuche was the WBC's number one contender at 160 when Kelly fought him. The fight wasn't even competetive. And I understand that Zertuche has also moved up to 168.

The Miranda story we all know, and Edison is now considered to be quite in the mix at 168.

Against Taylor the fight was nip and tuck. Kelly had been hurt bad in round 2. Regardless of how it happened, he was HURT BAD. Taylor had not really been hurt. Not even the ass whippin' Pav handed out in round 3 seemed to slow Taylor down. As I recall I scored round 4 even, and round 5 for JT. AND THEN in round 7 Kelly scored a perfect 1-2 mid ring, and behind the strength of that 1-2 combination promptly closed the show. Taylor has made it clear that he intends to move to 168.

Incidently, the last guy to go the distance with Pavlik was Ross Thompson (26-9-2 with 16 KO's.) That was November 2004. Thompson never fought again.

These are the kind of irrefutable historical facts that make me believe that right now nobody at 160 or 168 can make the distance against "The Ghost." Some might box his ears off for several rounds, but they ain't going 12 rounds with Kelly. There is no such thing as fighting a perfect fight. All fighters make mistakes, and Kelly only needs one.

And then there's the money. Calzaghe / Pavlik could very well be one of the biggest PPV draws in recent history. Cetainly bigger than a fight at the senior citizens center with BHop.

You asked me to state my case. I think I did.

Boo