Kelly Pavlik will have problems at super middleweight; Rodriguez-George on March 17th

By Boxing News - 01/23/2012 - Comments

Image: Kelly Pavlik will have problems at super middleweight; Rodriguez-George on March 17thBy Dan Ambrose: Former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (37-2, 32 KO’s) has been busy training with his new trainer Robert Garcia in Oxnard, California. Pavlik, 29, is reportedly in his second week of workouts with Garcia and is looking to get in shape for a tune-up fight in April or May in the super middleweight division.

Pavlik can no longer make the 160 pound middleweight weight limit and is forced now to fight in the much more stacked 168 pound division with excellent fighters like Carl Froch, Lucian Bute, Andre Ward, Anthony Dirrell, Glen Johnson, Andre Dirrell, Robert Stieglitz, Mikkel Kessler, and Edwin Rodriguez.

This is going to be very tough for Pavlik to fight a place among all these fighters because there are too many of them that can do the same things that Pavlik can do but a lot better because of their boxing skills and speed. Pavlik was a big fish in a small pond at middleweight but at super middleweight he’s going to have some problems.

Pavlik might be able to pick off guys like Froch, Stieglitz, and Johnson, but Bute, Kessler, Ward and the Dirrell brothers are likely going to be a step too far for Pavlik. He hasn’t fought since last year when he barely beat fringe super middleweight contender Alfonso Lopez by a 10 round majority decision.

Edwin Rodriguez vs. Don George to replace Andy Lee bout on Macklin-Martinez undercard on March 17th

A fight between unbeaten super middleweight contender Edwin Rodriguez (20-0, 14 KO’s) vs. Don George (22-1-1, 19 KO’s) will fill the place of middleweight contender Andy Lee pulling out of the March 17th headlined by Sergio Martinez vs. Matthew Macklin at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lee decided to take his name off the card in order to get a possible title fight against WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm.

Rodriguez is a good fighter to put in place of Lee, although I’d like to have seen Rodrgiuez, #5 IBF, #8 WBA, #9 WBC, face a little better opponent than this. George, 27, can punch but he didn’t look so great in losing to an average fighter Francisco Sierra by a 7th round technical decision in July 2010.



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