By Eric Thomas: WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik is ready to go for his December 19th title defense against his number # rated World Boxing Council challenger Miguel Espino (20-2-1, 9 KO’s) at the Beeghly Center, in Youngstown, Ohio. Pavlik, 27, is reportedly fully recovered by his staph infection that has plagued his left hand and is ready to defend his titles against the little known Espino.

Pavlik could have been facing Paul Williams instead, but because of Kelly’s lingering staph infection on his hand, he had to cancel the bout with Williams. It’s unfortunate that happened, because the way that Williams fought in his recent fight last weekend against Sergio Martinez, Pavlik would have had an excellent chance of beating him. Instead, however, Pavlik will have to be satisfied with defending his title against Espino.

This is a fight that many people predict won’t go to the cards, because Espino has previously been beaten by Peter Manfredo Jr. and Daniel Edouard in the past. Beyond that, Espino has beaten a host of B level fighters with no wins against upper echelon opposition. It would have been nice to have seen Espino face a top tier fighter to earn his number #3 ranking in the WBC rather than being pushed up to that fight based on wins over B and C level fighters.

Pavlik has been out of action for the better part of a year because of his staph infection which has cost him fights against Sergio Mora and Williams. Now Pavlik has to settle for a pay-per-view bout against Espino rather than Williams. It’s hard to imagine how many fans outside of Ohio will be willing to purchase the Pavlik-Espino bout on pay per view given that the bout appears to be one-sided before the first punch has even been landed.

This fight might be better served if it was put on HBO/Showtime or ESPN instead. Pavlik is a popular fighter, but it’s doubtful he’s popular enough to get a huge amount of fans wanting to buy this fight in this kind of economy. Although the undercard does have a couple of good prospects Vanes Matirosyan and Matt Korobov fighting in separate bouts.

Pavlik was beaten badly by 43-year-old Bernard Hopkins last year in a 12 round unanimous decision loss in October. Hopkins exposed Pavlik’s lack of hand speed and his one dimensional style of fighting. All Hopkins did was use a little movement and quick combinations and he had Pavlik looking confused. Espino, however, isn’t anything like Hopkins in style. Espino is more like an old fashioned plodding type middelweight and unless he’s drastically changed his style since his last fight, Espino should be directly in front of Pavlik and an inviting target for Pavlik’s big shots.

Pavlik is good at beating fighters that stand directly in front of him. He takes a lot of shots himself in the process of beating down his opponents, but in the end Pavlik is unusually able to wear down his opposition with his big shots. Espino might be badly over-matched in this fight like many of Pavlik’s opponents have been during his career, but he’ll probably be able to stand in there for a little while before Pavlik eventually takes him out.