By Marcus Richardson: Kelly Pavlik (38-2, 33 KO’s) will be fighting a day before Manny Pacquiao’s next fight on June 8th in Las Vegas, Nevada in a fight that will be televised on ESPN2 in the United States. Pavlik likely won’t be taking on anyone of note in the fight, because his promoter still wants to take it slow with him before possibly setting him up with some big fights in 2013 if Pavlik doesn’t have any problems against the weak opposition he’s going to be fed.
Pavlik said to Vindy.com “It’s pretty much a guarantee at this point. It’s the night before the Pacquiao fight. Anything can happen in boxing but that’s the way it’s looking.”
It looks like Pavlik’s promoter Bob Arum will be looking to get Pavlik fighting a day before the Pacquiao fight to take advantage of the excitement surrounding that event with all the media in Las Vegas covering the fight. It’ll give Pavlik a lot of good publicity. Why Arum isn’t putting Pavlik on the Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley card is the big question. It could be that he would be expected to fight a better fighter than what Arum wants to match him against if he Pavlik were to be placed on the high visibility Pacquiao-Bradley card. By fighting on ESPN2, he can get away with fighting another 3rd tier fighter like the one he beat last Saturday night.
Pavlik defeated a very rusty Aaron Jaco (15-3, 5 KO’s) by a 2nd round TKO last Saturday. It was Pavlik’s first fight since last May. Pavlik knocked Jaco down once in the 1st with a left hook and a final time in the 2nd with another left hook to the head. Jaco didn’t want to continue after he got back to his feet.
Pavlik could end up facing WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. if both fighters keep winning. It would be a Top Rank in house fight for Arum, as both fighters are with Top Rank. If Chavez Jr. loses his WBC title to Sergio Martinez or if he stripped of the title for failing to fight Martinez, then Pavlik-Chavez Jr. probably won’t happen.