by James Slater – Paul “The Punisher” Williams’ trainer George Peterson is as anxious as the rest of us when it comes to the fight between Williams and middleweight king Kelly Pavlik happening. As frustrated as everyone else that the fight – originally announced as taking place in October – has been postponed due to a finger injury that is bothering “The Ghost,” Peterson is still hoping the fight will go ahead this year.
Hoping to maybe get some more news about what is happening, and to ask if the Pavlik camp have been in touch with the Williams team, I called George up earlier today. Unfortunately there is no solid news to report, but George was happy to give me his opinion on what will happen when the fight does eventually go ahead – as he is pretty sure it will.
Here is what George had to say: @
James Slater: Thanks for talking to me, George. Firstly, is there any news on the fight we all want to see in Paul Williams-Kelly Pavlik?
George Peterson: No, there are no new developments as of yet. But I believe that this fight will take place, I really do.
J.S: You haven’t heard back from the Pavlik camp at all then?
G.P: No, nothing. It’s real mysterious – something should’ve surfaced by now. We’ve looked at other fights instead, such as one with Bernard Hopkins, but that’s not going to happen now because we can’t agree on a weight for us both to fight at, so that option’s out.
J.S: We heard that Paul would maybe fight in October regardless of whether or not it was against Pavlik, to keep busy. Is that no longer the case?
G.P: No, that won’t happen either. The reason is it’s too soon. There’s not enough time to get something working [ with regards to a suitable October opponent]. I think the Pavlik fight has to happen and that it will happen this year. That’s just my gut feeling, James.
J.S: Everyone wants to see this fight so badly, you and your fighter clearly want it too!
G.P: As far as the middleweight division goes, there has not been a fight of this magnitude since the days of Leonard and Hearns – you have to go that far back. We are getting calls all the time, we’ve been swamped with calls everywhere we go, asking about this fight. You see, boxing needs a fight like this to help it survive. Boxing needs competitive fights, not fights where you know who’s going to win going in, where you know the outcome. That’s the key to boxing surviving, because it’s losing a lot to the MMA crowd – and the reason is because of the way they match their fights in MMA, where you don’t know the outcome beforehand.
J.S: Just talking tactics a little bit without giving too much away. Supposing the fight does happen, and we all want it to, how will Paul fight Pavlik? Will he box or will he slug?
G.P: Well, the thing about Pavlik is, he’s extremely slow. He has no movement at all. Paul is so much faster, and he will box and he will punch – Paul’s a boxer-puncher. He’ll box and then he’ll move in and sit down on his punches, he’ll throw punches with power. I don’t see Pavlik being able to compete at all. Paul, with his fast hand speed….. Pavlik’s a one-two fighter. Once Paul takes that away from him by stepping to him, Paul will lay him down.
J.S: You’re extremely confident. You think Paul would KO Pavlik relatively easily?
G.P: I do believe Paul will lay him down, yes. See, Jermain Taylor (who had Pavlik down and almost out in their first fight) wasn’t a finisher. Paul is a finisher! And Bernard Hopkins (who is the only man to have ever beaten Pavlik) who does he ever knock out really? Hopkins beat Pavlik a different way. Paul will put some power on him [Pavlik]. He’ll definitely win. This fight will be no contest. This fight won’t even be a contest!
J.S: It must be annoying for you that this fight is so hard to make. Have you heard anything back about Pavlik’s finger injury and whether or not he’s been going to the doctors? I know you told me that antibiotics would clear up Pavlik’s finger problem.
G.P: They’ve been silent. Real silent. But you know, we’re gonna rock and roll and ride on, and as I say, I believe the fight will happen before the end of the year. You see, this will be our statement fight. They [the critics] won’t be able to say Paul beat an old man after he beats Pavlik. They won’t be able to say, “oh, he beat a guy with a bad cold.” I’m just waiting to see what they can possibly say after Paul beats this guy. They won’t have anything to be able to say, other than to admit that Paul Williams is the real deal.
J.S: Well, thanks for your time, Sir. I hope we read some solid news soon that tells us the fight is happening.
G.P: Okay, James. We want this fight a whole lot!