Pavlik vs. Ward on January 26th in Los Angeles, CA

By Boxing News - 11/19/2012 - Comments

Image: Pavlik vs. Ward on January 26th in Los Angeles, CABy Scott Gilfoid: It looks like WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) has found his next victim for an easy win, as it’s reported by Boxrec.com that the 28-year-old Ward will be facing former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (40-2, 34 KO’s) on January 26th at the Galen Center, in Los Angeles, California.

Incredibly this is a fight that the 30-year-old Pavlik really wants and one that he actually believes he can win. I don’t know what in the world has given Pavlik the idea that he can do anything against Ward, but something has got him thinking he can win this fight.

It could be that Pavlik saw Ward’s fights against Sakio Bika, Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch and noticed that those fighters were able to touch Ward with their shots. Ward definitely got hit in each of those fights, but he showed a good chin and gave them all a boxing lesson.

I guess Pavlik is figuring that his power will get Ward in trouble once he starts landing. However, Pavlik doesn’t have the kind of one-punch power needed to beat a fighter like Ward, because he’s not going to be able to land his shots all night long because Ward isn’t a stationary fighter. Those are the types that Pavlik has historically done well against.

If you look at all of Pavlik’s wins you’ll see names like Fulgencio Zuniga, Marco Antonio Rubio, Gary Lockett, Edison Miranda and Jose Luis Zertuche. Those guys either stood directly in front of Pavlik without moving or they came right at him making his job much easier.

Ward isn’t like those guys at all. His jab is out of this world, his left hook sensational and his defense is quite good. Ward will be able to do all the same things that Bernard Hopkins did to Pavlik in beating him by a lopsided 12 round decision.

Pavlik has a new trainer in Robert Garcia and is training in Oxnard, California instead of Ohio where he used to train. But in looking at Pavlik’s last three wins against Aaron Jaco, Scott Sigmon and Will Rosinsky, he looks like the same fighter that Hopkins and Sergio Martinez easily beat. There’s no difference other than him being a little older and a little bigger now that he’s fighting at super middleweight.



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