By Eric Thomas: Promoter of Kelly Pavlik, Bob Arum, has reportedly been unable to make arrangements for a bout between WBC light middleweight champion Sergio Mora and WBO/WBC middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, apparently because the offer made for Mora ($1.2 million) wasn’t enough for them. Mora needed a minimum of $1.5, for his own payment and to use as step aside money due to his already signed contract for a rematch with Vernon Forrest, whom he recently defeated by a 12-round unanimous decision last month. Arum, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN, wouldn’t go above the $1.2 million, and pulled out of the negotiations.
With that deal off the table, Arum is looking at trying to line up a bout between newly crowned WBO welterweight champion Paul Williams, a 6′1′ tall, slender, high volume puncher, with a physique not unlike that of Pavlik. According to Rafael, (not surprisingly), HBO and Showtime network’s aren’t interested in seeing a Pavlik vs. John Duddy or Marco Antonio Rubio bout, both of whom are currently ranked as Pavlik’s number #2 and #3 challengers in the WBC and WBO. Duddy and Rubio have good records, but are badly flawed and would likely be quick knockout victories for Pavlik, perhaps even faster than Pavlik’s recent 3rd round TKO over the obscure Gary Lockett on June 7th.
As for Williams, if a fight can be made with him, which is still very questionable at this point because the two sides are still far apart in terms of finding an agreeable payment for him, it will likely be on September 27th, taking place in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Williams, 26, is coming off an impressive 1st round TKO over WBO welterweight champion Carlos Quintana on June 7th, a bout in which Williams dropped Quintana multiple times. In beating Quintana, Williams gained revenge for an earlier loss to Quintana in February, for which Williams lost his WBO welterweight title.
Many boxing fans and experts and alike felt that Williams was making a mistake in fighting Quintana so soon, suggesting that Williams hadn’t learned enough to cope with Quintana’s tricky style of fighting. I suppose we’ll never know if Williams did learn enough to defeat Quintana over the course of a bout, given the fact that he stopped him so quickly, but Williams did appear to learn how to get around having to deal with Quintana’s style - by going right after him at the start of the fight and taking him out with big shots. It seems that Williams took a page out of Miguel Cotto’s play book, as he used the same approach to defeat Quintana two years earlier in 2006, stopping him in the 5th round.
It has been reported that Williams has been having problems making the 147 lb welterweight limit, perhaps growing out of the weight class as he ages. This would suggest that Williams won’t be at such at big disadvantage as some people might think by going up against the heavier Pavlik, who fights at 13 lbs heavier win the 160 lb middleweight limit. The size won’t be the issue, but the power may end up being a problem for Williams, however. Williams is more of a high volume puncher, known for throwing slapping punches rather than hard shots.
He has a lot of knockouts on his record, but most of those have come due to his tendency to overwhelm his opponents with a high number of shots over the course of a bout. To accomplish this, he often stands directly in front of his opponent, burying them with storms of punches. So far, Williams has been able to get away with this because he’s not had to face a knockout threat anywhere near the class of Pavlik.
However, if Williams has any chance at beating Pavlik, he’s going to have to come up with a different strategy to account for Pavlik’s tremendous power. In this case, standing directly in front of him and trying to take him out, would likely be a fatal mistake for Williams, ending with a fairly quick knockout loss.
July 4th, 2008 at 8:35 am
I Agree, totally with the author. Some People are saying that Wiiliams is the best WW. I do not see it. Sure he got his revenge from Quintana after being out boxed in the first figth. But Quintana just got cought with a good shot because he stood to trade shots with him, since apparantly the Quintana corner thought they could KO Williams. But in terms of if he improved boxing wise, the figth did not prove much. I also see the point that Pavlik KO power would be to much for Williams at 160, not only that but Pavlik has been in their with some heavy hitters and can take hard shots. I do not see william able to outbox or KO Pavlik
July 4th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Paul Williams has been a bob Arum killer. I don’t know the the scariest Arum or his fighters. I am willing to bet the fight won’t come off. Kelly is easy to hit and the pace of the fight would be to much for Kelly. Won’t come off, watch and see.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I’m not sure what this bout does for Pavlik. It definately has upside for Williams if he’s able to pull off a win, but if he doesn’t, which is the likely scenario, what does Williams do after? I do not think Pavlik is at the peak of career, but Arun is managing him like an aged champion trying to cash in. Pavlik should be going after Abraham and not worry about the money… the money will come.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
I don’t see why Paul Williams and Kelly Pavlik shouldn’t be made. In my eyes, PW is trying to make a name for himself in the WW division, and reallistically, no one is fighting him. Not Cotto, Margarito doesn’t want any of him after Paul tipped him up, not Mosley, not DLH. Zab is fighting for a belt; can’t knock him for that, and Floyd is retired.
I really like Kelly Pavlik, but I like Paul more. My thing is, Paul’s been coming to the ring as a middleweight! I know people say that he would lose power going up to middleweight but I feel that he both of these guys are pressure fighters. Yeah Kelly packs a punch, but I don’t see him swinging as much as he has in the past because of Paul’s work rate. And he may be able to knock Kelly out because he’s showed a suspect chin against Taylor, and Miranda for that matter. Not by power, but by a two or three piece combo.
Paul’s best bet is to snap that jab all day and if he hurts him, try to knock him out. He may be able to.
As for the welterweights, Paul is doing his best to get him a fight. What’s wrong with that? As a champ, I would imagine you would like to get paid, and the welterweight division is where the money is if you ask me…but no one is calling HIM out. He’s too much of a risk for the top rate fighters and we all know Bob Arum not gonna let any of his big guns even get in there with him.
I first seen Paul Williams was against Sharmba Mitchell, and I’ve been a fan since. As a welterweight, no one is going to beat him if he’s motivated.