Andre Ward vs. Kelly Pavlik possible for February 23rd

By Boxing News - 10/13/2012 - Comments

Image: Andre Ward vs. Kelly Pavlik possible for February 23rdBy Dan Ambrose: WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) and former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (40-2, 34 KO’s) could be facing off next year on February 23rd, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Dan Goosen, the promoter for the 28-year-old Ward, said to Rafael at ESPN “Yes, I am in talks with Top Rank.”

Pavlik’s promoter Bob Arum said “It’s a fight we’re certainly interested in.”

If the fight gets put together it won’t be taking place in Ward’s home city of Oakland, California. The fight would take place in Las Vegas, Nevada if it can get made. A big driving force behind the fight is the 30-year-old Pavlik, who badly wants to fight Ward for some reason. I guess it’s one of those fights where Pavlik won’t lose quite as much by getting beaten by Ward compared to if Pavlik were to fight someone else not as talented.

Ward is considered to be the best fighter in the super middleweight division right now, and that obviously would take a lot of the sting away from Pavlik should he fight Ward and lose badly to him. In the last three years, Ward has knocked off the following fights: Mikkel Kessler, Carl Froch, Arthur Abraham, Sakio Bika, and Chad Dawson. Ward isn’t just beating them, he’s dominating them with ease.

If Ward can’t get a fight against Pavlik he could end up waiting a long time before he can get an appealing fight because he’s beaten most of the top super middleweights in the division and none of the big names he’s beaten – Kessler, Froch and Abraham – appear to be interested in facing him again.

Pavlik’s career has been sinking since he was beaten by Bernard Hopkins in 2008. Although Pavlik has won six of seven fights since he lost to Hopkins, he’s not beaten anyone that you could consider a really good fighter. He was beaten by Sergio Martinez in 2010, and he’s fought only four times since that defeat, beating nothing but 2nd tier opposition.



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