By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KO’s) finds himself fighting gatekeeper Bryan Vera (17-5, 11 KO’s) on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito on November 13th at the Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. For the 28-year-old Pavlik, fighting on the undercard is a new experience for him because he’s been a main event fighter for the past three years after capturing the WBC/WBO middleweight titles with a 7th round TKO win over then champion Jermain Taylor in September 2007.
As a champion, Pavlik was a big disappointment, fighting obscure fighters like Gary Lockett, Miguel Angel Espino and Marco Antonio Rubio, while losing to fighters like Bernard Hopkins and Sergio Martinez. Pavlik did well fighting the unknown fighters, but failed miserably when he stepped it up.
At the same time, he failed to take on exciting fighters like Paul Williams, Arthur Abraham and Felix Sturm. When Pavlik lost his titles to Martinez, it came to no surprise to many boxing fans, who has seen it coming for a long time.
This is partly why Pavlik now finds himself fighting on the undercard rather than in the main event. It would be hard to imagine seeing Pavlik in the main event right now unless he was facing someone good like IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute or Paul Williams.
It’s doubtful Pavlik will be facing either of those two fighters any time soon. In an article at the Lasvegassun.com, Pavlik says “For me, I still think it’s great exposure as a co-main event. There’s still going to be 60-to-70,000 in the stands [for the Pacquiao-Margarito card] and it’s on the pay-per-view. It’s going to be a hell of a card. I’ve got no complaints.”
Unless Pavlik starts fighting and actually beating top fighters like Bute, Williams and Sergio Martinez, he may have to get used to fighting on undercards rather than in the main event. His opponent Vera is pretty much the same kind of fighter that Pavlik has dined on as a champion, much to the disappointment of boxing fans. If you like seeing Pavlik beat up on 2nd tier fighters, then the Vera-Pavlik fight is the one for you.
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