By Dan Ambrose: Middleweight contender Giovanni Lorenzo (29-3, 21 KO’s) could be the next opponent for former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KO’s) to face on November 13th at the Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Texas, according to news from Dan Rafael on his Twitter page. Rafael says that Pavlik’s promotional company Top Rank has made an offer to the 29-year-old Lorenzo. Pavlik was going supposed to be fighting Daniel Edouard on November 13th, but it appears that fight may be off the table.

Lorenzo is coming off a one-sided 12 round decision loss to World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight champion Felix Sturm earlier this month on September 4th. Lorenzo looked slow, stiff and one-paced in losing the fight. It’s unclear why Pavlik’s team would want him to fight Lorenzo given how poor Lorenzo looked in losing to Sturm. However, by picking Lorenzo, it increases the chances that Pavlik will win the fight and have a better chance of looking good.

Pavlik didn’t look good in his last fight against Sergio Martinez in April. Pavlik was beaten up and ended up losing by a 12 round decision. Martinez’s boxing skills were too much for the plodding Pavlik. Lorenzo fights like a robot for the most part, and doesn’t move around much. This should make it a lot easier for Pavlik to get the win, because he struggles badly against fighters that use any of movement against him. Pavlik was schooled by a 43-year-old Bernard Hopkins in 2008, losing by a one-sided 12 round decision.

Lorenzo will likely be standing in front of Pavlik for as long as the fight lasts. Although Lorenzo has good power, he has slow hand speed and poor foot movement. I’d much rather see Pavlik in with someone like Matthew Macklin or Matt Korobov, but those guys are probably too dangerous for Pavlik at this point in his sagging career. Pavlik needs to improve in a lot of different areas if he wants to recapture his lost titles. The middleweight division has improved recently with fighters like Dmitry Pirog, Gennady Golovkin and Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam rising up to the top. Unless Pavlik makes huge improvements, he may have to settle for being a gate keeper in the division.