By Sean McDaniel: Whether former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KO’s) likes it or not, he may very well have to fight a rematch with newly crowned WBC/WBO middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (45-2-2, 24 KO’s) to recapture credibility with boxing fans. Pavlik, 28, has lost a lot of status with his disappointing 12 round unanimous decision defeat to the 35-year-old Martinez last weekend on April 17th because of how decisive the loss was. This wasn’t just the first time that Pavlik had taken a pounding.

He had been beaten by 44-year-old Bernard Hopkins in October 2008 in a 12 round decision loss. Martinez, a fast fighter, used movement and combinations to pound out the decision over Pavlik last Saturday night. The defeat did a number on Pavlik’s career, because although he may still be one of the best fighters in the middleweight division, he is no longer seen as the same invincible fighter he was back in 2007 after beating Jermain Taylor for the titles.

Hopkins took a lot of the mystique away from Pavlik with his victory over him in 2008, and Pavlik wasn’t helped by having a lack of popular opposition to face in his title defenses. Last Saturday night, Pavlik, 6’2”, went into the fight a favorite by many boxing fans because of his bigger size compared to the 5’10” Martinez. However, Pavlik had immediate problems in the first four rounds with the quickness and movement from Martinez.

Pavlik wasn’t throwing enough punches and seemed to be waiting too long to let his hands go when Martinez would come in punching range. In the meantime, Pavlik fell behind in the fight. He came back in rounds five though eight, knocking Martinez down with a short right hand at one point. However, Martinez turned it up in the last four rounds to pull away from Pavlik, who by then was cut over both eyes and having a hard time seeing through all the blood that was dripping into both of his eyes.

The cuts may have hindered Pavlik to a certain degree, but they clearly weren’t the reason he lost to Martinez. Perhaps the biggest reasons Pavlik lost was that he didn’t throw enough punches, had problems with the movement from Martinez and came into the fight far too heavy at 178. That was way too much weight for Pavlik to be carrying around against an elusive fighter like Martinez. Pavlik will have to make corrections in his dieting and training if he plans on staying at middleweight and fighting Martinez again.

No matter how many changes he makes to his offense and defense, if Pavlik comes in at 178 or higher, he’ll probably lose again. However, he’s going to have to fight Martinez again if he wants to quiet his critics and regain what he’s lost in the way of credibility. Pavlik has a rematch clause in his contract with Martinez, so he won’t have to waste time working his way back into a title shot. The question is whether Pavlik will want to take the risk of fighting Martinez again and potentially getting beaten.