Kelly Pavlik’s trainer Jack Loew believes the middleweight champion must defeat Marco Antonio Rubio this weekend to get his career back on track. Pavlik fights for the first time since he lost to Bernard Hopkins in October last year. Loew told the Steve Bunce Boxing Hour on Setanta Sports News that this was a fight that Pavlik could not afford to lose. He said:
“It’s an important fight for Kelly. A loss at this point, right now, would be disastrous for his career. He’s got to come out firing on all cylinders.
“I think he needs to have a very impressive win.”
Loew revealed that Pavlik, should he make it past Rubio, is already considering his next opponent. One name strongly linked to face Pavlik is Germany’s Arthur Abraham. Loew added:
“We’ve offered to get him over here for the fight, we offered to go to Germany and fight him there. We’re getting no response.
“Of course everyone’s saying we don’t want to fight Arthur Abraham. But we would be happy to fight Arthur Abraham in the States or in Germany.
“But once we get past Rubio we’ll probably go for [John] Duddy, providing Duddy gets past his opponent.”
Povetkin warms up for Klitschko showdown with April 4 fight against Estrada
Alexander Povetkin (16-0, 12 KOs), mandatory challenger of IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, will take a final warm-up fight on April 4 when he faces Jason Estrada (15-1, 3 KOs) in Dusseldorf. The 29-year-old was scheduled to fight Klitschko in December 2008 but an ankle injury forced him to postpone the hotly anticipated showdown. The IBF ruled that their meeting has to take place before September 13, 2009. “This time frame allows us to give Alexander a tough fight so that he can keep his rhythm,” Sauerland Event general manager Chris Meyer said. “By picking Jason Estrada we have chosen a strong opponent. But that is exactly what Alexander had asked us to do because easy fights do not help him at all.”
The White Lion, who is unbeaten in 16 fights, is widely considered the favourite to end the Klitschkos´ heavyweight hegemony. A former European and World Amateur Champion as well as an Olympic gold medal winner, Povetkin is determined to continue his winning streak as a professional. “I am very happy that I have recovered from my injury. I look forward to returning to the ring in April,” he stated. “I take the fight against Jason Estrada very seriously because there is a lot at stake. But I will win this fight and I will show that I am ready for Klitschko.”
Povetkin earned the right to challenge the IBF heavyweight champion by winning a four-way elimination tournament in which he defeated Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers. Together with Valeri Belov, he is preparing in Russia. “I will be in top shape on April 4,” he stated.
CRISTOBAL CRUZ RETAINS IBF FEATHERWEIGHT WORLD TITLE WITH 12 ROUND DECISION WIN AGAINST CYRIL THOMAS IN FRANCE
Golden Gloves and Banner Promotions would like to congratulate International Boxing Federation featherweight world champion Cristobal Cruz for retaining the title on February 14 at the Palais des Sports in Saint Quentin, France. The first-ever world title fight held in the city of 60,000 in northern France was a great success – the main event and undercard bouts produced some exciting matchups, drew a capacity crowd at the arena, and was televised on Canal+ and other networks throughout in Europe as well as networks in Africa and 44 countries in Latin America.
Cruz, now 38-11-1 with 23 knockouts, of Tijuana, Mexico, and challenger Cyril Thomas, 33-3-4 with 10 knockouts, of Saint Quentin, both gave strong efforts in a good fight.
Several rounds were close and the momentum shifted back and forth – Cruz, making his first defense of the title he won in October, 2008, pressed forward and kept a relentless pace, Thomas boxed and counterpunched effectively at times, and after six rounds the fight was scored 58-56 Cruz, 57-57, 57-57.
Cruz rallied and swept the seventh and eighth rounds on all three scorecards, won the ninth on two scorecards, then swept the tenth round. Thomas finished the fight strongly – he swept the eleventh round, then won the twelfth round on two scorecards, as well – but Cruz won a unanimous decision by scores of 115-113, 115-113, 116-112.
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