By William Mackay: It doesn’t help that WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (34-1, 30 KOs) was not long ago soundly defeated by a fighter that is trained by the new hot trainer Nasim Richardson, but the similarities go further than that. Like Antonio Margarito, Pavlik was expected to win big in his last fight and ended up taking sound thrashing, winning zero rounds and badly beaten.
Marco Antonio Rubio
Pavlik-Rubio Preview
By Matt Stein: WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (34-1, 30 KOs) will be looking to shine against Marco Antonio Rubio (43-4-1, 37 KOs) on February 21st at n Youngstown, Ohio. Pavlik, 26, has a lot of proving to do after looking positively horrible in a 12-round unanimous decision loss to 43-year-old Bernard Hopkins in October. If there’s a plus side for this fight, it’s that Pavlik’s two middleweight straps weren’t on the line in the fight, due to Pavlik having moved up to the 170 pound catch weight.
Pavlik vs. Rubio on February 21st
By Dave Lahr: WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (34-1, 30 KOs) will be defending his titles on February 21st against Marco Antonio Rubio (43-4-1, 37 KOs), his number #1 ranked WBC challenger, in Youngstown, Ohio. Pavlik, 26, will be making his first appearance since being defeated by 43-year-old Bernard Hopkins in a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision loss in October in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Pavlik, who made the mistake of meeting Hopkins at a 170 pound catch weight, was completely outclassed by Hopkins, who used both his power and movement to make Pavlik look bad and beat him to the punch.