by James Slater – Though fans still want to see middleweight king Kelly Pavlik Vs. Paul Williams (a fight that could possibly still happen one day, who knows?), there is a good chance “The Ghost” will next face the man who gave “The Punisher” such a tough time back in December; Sergio Martinez.
According to ESPN.com, promoters Bob Arum and Lou DiBella are currently working on Pavlik-Martinez, with April 17th the target date. A great fight on paper, would the southpaw from Argentina be able to push Pavlik as hard as he did Williams, or would he go one better and dethrone the once-beaten banger from Youngstown?
The fight is not a dead cert to happen yet, but Arum told ESPN.com that HBO offered him “a reasonable number” and now he has to talk to DiBella to “make the fight happen.” If the fight happens, it will be staged in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
27-year-old Pavlik, 36-1(32) last fought also in December, winning a short, five-round slugfest against former “Contender” Miguel Angel Espino. Just two wins removed from his devastating loss to legend Bernard Hopkins, and just one fight removed from all the problems his staph infection served to give him, Pavlik would likely be tested to the limit by the battle hardened 154-pound titlist.
Against Williams, Martinez proved beyond any doubt he can fight effectively up at 160-pounds;not only that, but the height and reach of Williams failed to overly affect him. It really will be hugely interesting to see how Pavlik – like Williams approx 6’2″ – copes with the fiercely determined and underrated Argentine with the 44-2-2(24) pro record (stopped just once, by Antonio Margarito down at welterweight way back in 2000).
Sure to have his performance compared to that of Williams’ against Martinez, Pavlik will be hoping he can go one better than Williams and get rid of Martinez. Indeed, stopping Martinez would be a fine statement, and such a result would also make “The Ghost” look the better fighter of the two.
But is such talk disrespectful to Martinez? Never mind Pavlik looking better than Williams did in the great December 5th 12-rounder (a majority win for Williams), the 34-year-old will be full of confidence he can beat Pavlik. And the fight does have the look of a 50-50 type affair to it. Pavlik still has much to prove by way of assuring us he has gotten over the Hopkins loss; but at the same time Martinez must show us how the brutal loss to Williams didn’t take something out of him.
There’s no way the fight (if it happens) would be a dull affair, that’s for sure. As to who wins, I’d favour Pavlik – who last faced a lefty in 2006 when he stopped Bronco McKart – but only just.