Kelly Pavlik-Paul Williams: Is The Fight in Jeopardy?
By Mark Vester
It was announced on Monday that WBC/WBO middleweight Kelly Pavlik is still suffering from an ongoing infection on the middle finger on his left hand and withdrew from his October 3 bout with Paul Williams. Top Rank sent out a press release that stated the fight would take place on November 21 or December 5.
Shortly after the press release by Top Rank, Williams' promoter Dan Goossen sent an email BoxingScene.com stating that he was unaware the fight had even been postponed or the November date and he was not signing off until he, and Team Williams, evaluate what they plan to do.
"If a release was sent stating that Pavlik was fighting November 21, I would be very interested in finding out who he's fighting. As we’re all aware, we've just learned of Pavlik's decision to cancel the press conference and thus the fight, and we will evaluate where we go from here," Goossen.
The date of November 21 seems out to most. One of Goossen's other star boxers is fighting on the same date on Showtime, Andre Ward. Ward goes into the biggest fight of his career when he faces WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler in the first round of Showtime's Super Six tournament. Goossen is almost sure to be in Ward's corner for the fight which is said to be taking place on Oakland, California - and he won't be likely to agree to see two of his fighters go head to head on rival networks.
The other date mentioned, December 5, was previously being held by HBO for a doubleheader to feature Andre Berto and Sergio Martinez. If the Pavlik-Williams fight gets moved over to that date, there may be some serious reshuffling with their other dates. Wladimir Klitschko-Eddie Chambers [also with Goossen] is tentative for December 12, and Lucien Bute-Librado Andrade is scheduled for November 28. Nobody knows what will happen at this point.
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