By Jason Kim: Former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik has dug in his heels about his career and is adamant about not fighting unless he’s well paid. Pavlik, 29, recently pulled out of fight that was scheduled last weekend against little known Darryl Cunningham after Pavlik was set to get paid only $50,000.

Pavlik didn’t find out until a week before the fight that he was only to make that amount, which as it turns out, was a $200,000 price drop from his previous fight against Alfonso Lopez.

However, Pavlik was the one that wanted to fight in Youngstown, Ohio, and if he wanted to get paid, he needed to take on a much bigger name than a guy like Cunningham. There was only a reported 1000 tickets sold for the Cunningham-Pavlik fight, and although it would have been shown on Showtime’s Shobox, you imagine that the ratings for the fight likely wouldn’t have been huge.

Pavlik still wants to get paid well, but the problem is he’s no longer a champion. Pavlik has lost two out of his last five fights, and looked poor in three of his last five bouts. Even with his wins over Marco Antonio Rubio, Miguel Angel Espino, and Alfonso Lopez, Pavlik didn’t look impressive. It’s like his career has been slowly going down hill since being dominated by then 43-year-old Bernard Hopkins in 2008.

That loss was a really big hit to Pavlik’s career, and he was still trying to claw his way back to the top when he was soundly beaten by Sergio Martinez last year in a 12 round decision in April. Pavlik then took a year off from boxing, went through an alcohol recovery period at the Betty Ford Clinic, and struggled in his first fight back against Lopez last May.

Pavlik barely beat a fighter that most of the top super middleweights would have no problems beating. With all that going against Pavlik is it any wonder that he’s not getting the big money that he did in the past. How could he? He’s no longer a champion, and he’s struggling to beat little known fringe contenders. This is how boxing is. If you start losing, your paydays often go down along with your career.

Pavlik also didn’t help himself recently by deciding not to agree to the $1.35 million payday that was offered to him for a fight against IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute. To be sure, it’s less than the $3 million Pavlik was paid for his fight against Hopkins, and for the $2.5 million for his defense against Gary Lockett, but it’s good money for someone who is getting beaten almost half the time in his last five fights.

Pavlik said this to vindy.com: “I’m not trying to be a cocky person, but the name Kelly Pavlik still carries a lot of weight. No matter what I do, Kelly Pavlik can still draw. If I’m not paid respectively, I won’t fight. I won’t care.”