Edwin Rodriguez doesn’t need Pavlik to get to the top

By Boxing News - 09/30/2012 - Comments

Image: Edwin Rodriguez doesn't need Pavlik to get to the topBy Sean McDaniel: Unbeaten super middleweight contender Edwin Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KO’s) called out former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik after Rodriguez’s 8th round TKO win over Jason Escalera (13-1-1, 12 KO’s) last Saturday night at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort, in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

Rodriguez, 27, should have known better than to waste his time calling out Pavlik, because you can see just by looking at Pavlik’s record that he’s not really going after quality fighters right now and just looking to pad his resume with some easy opponents.

Truthfully, these two guys are going in different directions. Rodriguez is on his way up the ladder, and Pavlik is someone that is going to likely get beaten and pushed down in the rankings as soon as he fights someone halfway decent. I think is just looking a title shot and a payday. He’ll lose to whichever champion he fights and then have to regroup and probably go back down in weight to middleweight if he wants to have hope of winning another world title.

The 6-foot Rodriguez is better equipped for the super middleweight division than Pavlik is in my estimation due to Rodriguez’s better skills, and his better mobility. Pavlik can’t box that well and is still a flat-footed slugger, whereas Rodriguez is an excellent boxer that box circles around his opponents or go after them like he did Escalera to get a knockout.

Rodriguez needs to forget all about Pavlik and look to take on one of these names to keep moving ahead:

Thomas Oosthuizen
Anthony Dirrell
Andre Dirrell
Adonis Stevenson
Brian Magee
James DeGale
George Groves
Sakio Bika
Librado Andrade
Rowland Bryant

One of these guys would be a great next opponent for Rodriguez to fight on HBO. There’s a much better chance that Rodriguez can get one of them in the ring than trying to lure a reluctant Pavlik into fight when he’s busy facing weak opposition that no one has ever heard of while waiting for his promoter Bob Arum to get him a title shot.



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