Duddy Dismisses Trainer, Bout With Pavlik Still Possible

duddy5743431.jpgBy Aaron Klein: Undefeated middleweight contender John Duddy (24-0, 17 KOs) is apparently still in the running for a potential bout with WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik for later this year, according to the website The Irish Independent. Duddy’s promoter, Bob Arum, had this to say, “There’s still a chance of Duddy meeting Pavlik for the belts later in this year or early in 2009.” Additionally, Duddy, 28, has switched trainers, the articles states, dismissing his American trainer Don Turner and moving to trainer Pat Burns, who also trains Jermain Taylor.

It’s unclear why Duddy has decided to make the move, but one would guess that it could have been due to Duddy’s recent disappointing performance against Walid Smichet, in which Duddy won by a 10-round majority decision but took a major pounding by Smichet. At the end of the fight, Duddy’s face was a red masque of blood, with his left eye cut badly, later requiring 23 stitches to close the deep cuts. But the worse part of all, however, was that Duddy despite winning the fight lost out on a chance to fight Pavlik on June 7th. Instead, Pavlik with be fighting Gary Lockett on June 7th rather than Duddy.

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Calzaghe To Fight Pavlik Instead Of Jones? Don’t Believe It!

calzaghe5474643664.jpgBy Eric Thomas: In the latest boxing news, various internet boxing forums are talking about the possibility that undefeated WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) could be facing undefeated WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs) in the near future, but only if Pavlik can get by his next opponent Gary Lockett, whom he fights on June 7th, at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Personally, I think the news is nothing but a bunch of hogwash, because Calzaghe, 36, is likely not about to face his toughest opponent out there before picking off his scrape opponents, like Roy Jones Jr., who Calzaghe has been reported to be very interested in fighting next.

To me, the Pavlik news is nothing more than a bargaining tool, so as to get the 39 year-old Jones to the table at a lower price than what he could ask for if there were other available big-named opponents for Calzaghe. Though I think if push comes to shove, Calaghe would face Pavlik next rather than Jones, but that would only be after they had exhausted every attempt at making the Jones fight work first.

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Boxing News: Yuriorkis Gamboa, Pavlik-Lockett Undercard, Mijares-Munoz

When unbeaten super featherweight phenomenon Yuriorkis Gamboa (9-0-0, 8 kos) steps into the ring against Darling Jimenez (23-2-2, 14 kos) this Saturday (May 17th) in Primm, Nevada, it will not only be the HBO debut of the Cuban Olympic gold medallist, but also his chance to win the WBC international championship. The title had been laid down by none other than Phillipinian superstar Manny Pacquiao before “Pacman” stripped the world title from Juan Manuel Marquez on March 15th.

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Boxing News: Pavlik-Lockett, Vazquez-Marquez Trilogy

JACK LOEW, trainer of world middleweight champion KELLY “The Ghost” PAVLIK, read with great interest the remarks made earlier this week by Gary “The Rocket” Lockett, the No. 1 contender who will be challenging Pavlik for the title in June.

“I see where Lockett has become inspired by Joe Calzaghe’s victory over Bernard Hopkins in his U.S. debut and is predicting the same result against Kelly. Maybe Enzo Calzaghe can teach Lockett to slap like a girl — just like Joe,” said Loew

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Pavlik-Lockett: Is Kelly Primed For An Upset?

By Aaron Klein: Undefeated WBO/WBC middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs) will be making his first title defense on June 7th against once-beaten knockout artist Gary Lockett (30-1, 21 KOs) at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Pavlik, 25, has been building Lockett up, saying that he’s got power and is capable of winning the fight. Indeed, I’m in full agreement with Pavlik in that after having seen several of Lockett’s fights recently.

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Who’s Next For Pavlik? Duddy, Lee or Trinidad?

By Dan Ambrose: For WBO/WBC middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs), he is suddenly the man that every fighter wants to mix it up with, and after all these years of toling away for next to nothing in monetary gain, Pavlik is looking at big money fights with a variety of fighters, most of which don’t come close to being nearly as good as him. The latest trio – Felix Trinidad, John Duddy and Andy Lee – are whom Pavlik is trying to decide on which will be his next opponent, or should I say ‘victim’ for his fight in June. As of now, the unbeaten John Duddy (23-0, 17 KOs) is the most likely of the three to be the one that Pavlik decides to fight, if only because he’s the more popular fighter on the East Coast.

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Taylor: Was His Fight Strategy Wrong For Pavlik?

By Jim Carran: For the second time in the past five months, undefeated World Boxing Organization/World Boxing Council middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs) has defeated Jermain Taylor (27-2-1, 17 KOs), this time by a unanimous 12-round decision at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday night. Though the fight was ultimately scored closely, with Pavlik winning by the judges’ scores 116-112, 117-111 and 115-113, in reality it wasn’t a close fight in the least. Many of the rounds were close, but there was little doubt who was winning the rounds, as Pavlik 25, was the much busier fighter and the one that initiated almost every exchange.

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Pavlik vs. Trinidad On June 7th?

By Chris Thomas: According to ESPN writer Dan Rafael, undefeated WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (32-0, 29 KOs) could be facing former welterweight/junior welterweight champion Felix Trinidad (42-3, 35 KOs) on June 7th at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Pavlik’s promoter, Bob Arum, would like for him to fight either Trinidad or John Duddy in Pavlik’s next bout, due to each of them being popular on the East coast. Though Pavlik still has to face Taylor first this Saturday, Pavlik will still be champion by virtue of this being a non-title bout.

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What Will Taylor Do If He Loses Again To Pavlik?

taylor4563.jpgBy Tim Williams: Ever since I found out about former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (27-1-1, 17 KOs) was planning on fighting a rematch with new middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (32-0, 29 KOs), I’ve thought that Taylor was either slightly deluded about his chances, or he had some secret weapon hidden up his sleeve, something that would almost guarantee him a win. Let’s hope for Taylor’s sake that he does have something that he does have some trick that will enable him to defeat Pavlik, because if he should lose a second time to him, it will possibly due damage to his boxing career.

That’s not to say that Taylor won’t still have opportunities for big fights, for as we’ve seen with Oscar De La Hoya, it hardly matters how many times that you lose, just as long as you mix in a win over former top fighter in between. Taylor, it seems, could do the same for himself by fighting someone like, say Roy Jones Jr.. Felix Trinidad or one of the other faded fighters on the senior circuit. The fans, most of whom only have a vague idea of who the champions are, would be totally in the dark about it, and likely see Taylor as still a champion.

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Pavlik vs. Taylor: Kelly Tries For Second Win

By “Big” Nate Anderson: It’s often difficult for fighters to defeat the same opponent in rematches, due to a natural let down that seems to occur when going over old ground. Some of it may be over confidence, while others are perhaps fear based, knowing that your opponent will be determined more than ever to gain revenge. For WBO/WBC middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (32-0, 29 KOs), he’s going to have to work hard to prevent falling into the category of fighters that fail in their rematches when he goes up against former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (27-1-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday night at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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