Weigh-In: Pavlik 159.5, Martinez 159.5 -Sergio looks like a winner already
April 16th, 2010
By Chris Williams: At today’s weigh-in, light middleweight Sergio Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KO’s) looked like a winner already, as he exuded confidence in front of the Atlantic City crowd. If there was ever a fighter that you would think was a winner ahead of time, it would be the 35-year-old Martinez. He came across as charismatic and confident in front of the pro-Pavlik crowd, many of which booed him loudly as Martinez was being introduced. Martinez weighed in at 159.5, and looked incredibly toned. In contrast, WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (36-1, 32 KO”s) came across as his regular unassuming self, somebody that would melt into any crowd and likely be ignored and forgotten.
Pavlik’s promoter Bob Arum or Top Rank thinks that Pavlik will regain his lost popularity with boxing fans if he can beat Martinez on Saturday night. In an interview with ESPN, Arum says “The public is very fickle. They caught onto Kelly leading up to, and including, the Taylor. Then there has been a falloff – His performance against Hopkins and the injury and so forth. But I am convinced, beyond any measure, that we are going to see the old Kelly Pavlik against Martinez, and as soon as we see that and as soon as the public sees that, he [Pavlik] will be right back on top and people will be clamoring for his next fight.” I doubt it.
Pavlik has been facing too many obscure opponents for too long and he’s really hurt himself with the boxing fans. His fights against Gary Lockett, Marco Antonio Rubio and Miguel Espino did nothing for him nor did his fight against 44-year-old Bernard Hopkins. What boxing fans wanted to see were competitive fights like the ones he had with Jermain Taylor and Edison Miranda. What they got instead was three years of mismatches and cancelled fights with Paul Williams.
Even if Pavlik does beat Martinez, a light middleweight, on Saturday night, Pavlik will still probably not win back the fans that he lost with those dull mismatches and his loss to Hopkins. For Pavlik to win fans back, he’s going to have to beat Martinez, fight and beat Paul Williams in spectacular fashion, line up a fight with Lucian Bute and beat him. If Pavlik can do all that, then I see him getting back to where he was three years ago. But the problem is I see Pavlik losing badly to Martinez tomorrow night, and then losing to Paul Williams later on this year.
Actually, I doubt Pavlik will even fight Williams if he loses to Martinez on Saturday night. I see Pavlik fighting another in house Top Rank fighter, 38-year-old Winky Wright next. That fight won’t do much more than Pavlik’s other fights against his obscure opposition in winning over fans. By then, with a loss to Martinez, Pavlik would be facing an uphill climb in trying to win back fans. I think he would better off at that point moving up to the super middleweight division and trying his luck there.
The card is lacking in competitive matches. In fact, other than the Pavlik-Martinez fight, there are really no other interesting bouts in the Top Rank card. Ronald Hearns, Dominic Guinn, Mike Jones and Matt Korobov are all fighting on the undercard, but they’re matched soft. I don’t see one competitive fight on the undercard worth watching.
Other weights:
Dominic Guinn 229.5, Terrell Nelson 252
Jeremy Bryan 142, Vincent Arroyo 142
Delray Raines 157, Ronald Hearns 155
Chris Hazimihalis 136, Ramon Ellis 138
Hector Munoz 146, Mike Jones 146
Josh Snyder 159.5, Matt Korobov 160
James Winchester 153.5, Glen Tapia 152
Randy Campbell 167, Mike Tiberi 168.5
Tags: 19 Responses to “Weigh-In: Pavlik 159.5, Martinez 159.5 -Sergio looks like a winner already”
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This writer probably said the same thing the Pavlik/Miranda weigh in. Yeah Miranda looked cut and was over flowing with confidence so what does that mean when the bell rings.
I think pavlik will look to try to outbox Martinez from the outside and making sure he doesn’t get caught
either pavlik will just dominate the fight and take him apart
or Martinez will be too strong for pavlik and take control of the tempo and even take out Kelly
Lucian bute win easily but Miranda is a puncher and anyone with edisons power should never be ruled out of a fight
bite should dominate to take a points victory but Miranda will be dangerous to the final bell no errors are allowed for Lucian but bute is a quality fighter and shouldn’t get caught cold again
this is gonna be a great fight, boxer vs puncher, i want martinez to win in style!
Pavlik UD 8 – 4 True story..
I have a feeling tht this is going to be a barn burner!
Pavlic by 8th round tko of KO!
Oh no.Pavlik,who’s nickname is “The Ghost”,looks pale.Stop the presses. Kelly has never been loud,always been reserved.It’s not like he acts differently at any of his weigh ins.
I hear you mike.I think this will be the fight of the year.
Pavlik by UD
im calling it, this will be the greatest fight of the year that nobody saw.
well except for me.
Kelly Pavlik was and is a Junk Yard Dog. he is tough he needs to show up as that and not a Mutt ready for a nap He will need all he has to beat Martinez .,,,,,
this will be a very good fight
martinez and pacquiaO USE THE SAME PRODUCT” YOU IMAGINE THE REST OF THE STORY.
i never saw somebody get so ripped in just few weeks of training! ops i have seen it before yap. pacquiao uses the same product of martinez , they real;ly look the same. sh martinez has been friend with manny??? look at him then look at pacquiao vs cotto( same face espression same ripped body , same attitude . guys is boxing clean????? come on guys get off the juice!!!!!!!!!!
I think we should have a tournament the winner gets PAUL WILLIAMS & go for greatness – the loser get CHAVEZJR/JDUDDY & the loser of them retires……….
The truth is that Pavlik should win this fight, he’s bigger and younger with more power. The problem with Pavlik is he hasn’t won a meaningful fight in a while and people are tired of him now; I’d like to see Martinez pull off the upset.
I am a Paul Williams fan, I also like Pavlick and Martinez, I think Williams toughness gets him bye them both, however the fight between Williams and Martinez should have been called at least a draw, there was no clear winner……
I did not realise that having a good body won you world title fights. I also did not think that you had to have a suntan to be a good fighter. We will see how much having muscles and a good sun tan will do for Martinez when Pavlik bounces a right hand off his chin. What’s all this Pavlik bashing Chris. Did the ghost steal your ice cream when you were a kid or something?
“Sergio has that latin swagger. Before the Williams fight Williams trainor said Sergio wouldnt last 3 rounds. I wish I could have seen the look on that morons face when Williams had that glassy stare as he was trying to get to his feet in the first round.”
^^ lol I agree Sergio will be a problem for Pavlik if he can use his movement, however I would have never thought to say it like this.
Sergio has that latin swagger. Before the Williams fight Williams trainor said Sergio wouldnt last 3 rounds. I wish I could have seen the look on that morons face when Williams had that glassy stare as he was trying to get to his feet in the first round.