by James Slater – Returning to the ring for the first time in ten months, middleweight king Kelly Pavlik got rid of some demons last night, as he smashed a game challenger in Miguel Espino inside five-rounds. Fighting before his hometown fans, “The Ghost” scored what was just his second win since losing his unbeaten record to the great Bernard Hopkins last October. Feeling good about how he also ridded himself of some of the ring-rust he’d picked up in what has been a largely awful and inactive year, Pavlik is now looking ahead to a big 2010.
After he’d improved to 36-1(32), the Youngstown man wasted no time in calling out the man he was twice supposed to fight, in Paul “The Punisher” Williams. Happy that his troubled left hand held up well in last night’s exciting-while-it-lasted rumble, a victorious Pavlik spoke of how he very much wants to face the tall southpaw; the fighter he calls “the top name in the division.”
“We wanted him (in 2008) but he pulled out of that fight,” Pavlik said of Williams last night. ” That’s why we jumped up two weight classes to fight Bernard Hopkins.”
As we know, Pavlik’s decision to face “The Executioner” in a catch-weight fight held at 170-pounds proved to be a bad one. Had he faced Williams as originally planned, maybe Kelly would still be an unbeaten fighter today? But based on what we saw last night, and what we saw in Williams’ last fight, against the much tougher than expected Sergio Martinez, who will win if and when the two exciting warriors finally get it on?
If things work out okay, and if both camps can agree to a third date for the sought after super-fight, it will take place next year. But who wins?
Pavlik, though he was too much for Espino, didn’t have things all his own way. Indeed, Pavlik later admitted he’d wanted something of a gut check, as it had “been a while” since he’d last fought. The rust was almost certainly a factor in it, but the 27-year-old was there to be hit by his 29-year-old challenger. Sure, the middleweight champ’s chin held up to Espino’s punches, but would this be the case against southpaw Williams – a man who throws a whole bunch of shots in each and every round?
Taking the flip side to this coin though, it shouldn’t be forgotten how much leather Williams ate in his war of a points win over Martinez. Styles make fights, and fellow lefty Martinez proved to be way more of a threat than Williams and his trainer George Peterson felt going in, and “The Punisher” really had his chin tested. How would Paul’s chin have held up had it been the middleweight champion who was landing the shots Martinez was getting home with?
In fact, neither Williams nor Pavlik have that great a defence. Both guys are warriors and they both like to rumble and give the fans thrilling fights. What this all adds up to, in my opinion, is a potentially brutal war when the two punchers meet. Both men will give and take some hurt and the action figures to be quite incredible. Simply put, Pavlik-Williams has to happen. Hopefully, now that he’s back and asking for the fight, “The Ghost” will indeed square off with the two-weight titlist in what really could be a massive 2010.