Pavlik wants Froch bout, willing to fight tune-ups until he’s available

By Boxing News - 08/03/2011 - Comments

Image: Pavlik wants Froch bout, willing to fight tune-ups until he's availableBy Scott Gilfoid: Kelly Pavlik (37-2, 32 KO’s) doesn’t want to fight for chump change against fighters like Darryl Cunningham and Lucian Bute, especially when other guys like Mikkel Kessler are reportedly being offered three times as much to fight Bute than him. To his credit, Pavlik stood up on his hind legs and said ‘No’! He’s not going to go along with that and be put in a position where he’s going to get a small payday in a fight where he’s facing a boxer like Bute.

I really don’t blame Pavlik one bit. I wouldn’t take small money either for the Bute fight. Pavlik says he’s willing to fight tune-up bouts for lesser money until WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch gets clear of his upcoming fight against WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward. And it doesn’t matter that Froch will have lost his World Boxing Council title by then, Pavlik vs. Froch will still be a great fight.

If they put that bout in England, it will do really well and I can see Pavlik totally destroying Froch to revive his career. It’s a good fight, it’s a perfect style for Pavlik and it’s smart. The Cunningham and Bute fights weren’t good fights for Pavlik for a couple of reasons: No money, and in the case of Bute, bad style.

Pavlik doesn’t need to be facing boxers. He needs to be facing exciting fighters that come straight at him so that he can go to war. If I was Pavlik’s promoter, I would have never even considered putting him in with boxers. You got to put him in fights where he can show his stuff and not have to chase someone around all night long.

Froch is worth waiting for, because it’s a huge fight and one where Pavlik will wipe the deck with Froch. I think Pavlik is smart and I’m proud of him for walking away from the Bute and Cunningham fights. Pavlik says he’ll retire rather than take fights that don’t pay. I agree. A nice easy destruction of Froch would be a great move for Pavlik. I don’t know why he didn’t fight this guy a long time ago, because I’ve always seen Froch as a poor man’s version of Pavlik.



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