By Mark Vester
WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik is slated to return to the ring in the month of May at the Quicken Loans Arena in Ohio, which seats a max of about 20,500. On Saturday night, Pavlik battered Marco Antonio Rubio for nine rounds at Ohio's Chevrolet Centre.
The opponent most insiders see Pavlik facing next is undefeated contender "Irish" John Duddy. Duddy won a ten round decision over Matt Vanda on the undercard of Cotto-Jennings at Madison Square Garden in New York. According to Top Rank's Bob Arum, Duddy may not be the next opponent for Pavlik. They have several options that are being considered. Duddy is one of the names in the ring, but there is an alternate plan to go with someone else in May and save the Duddy fight for September.
Two opponents who are "not" on the list to fight Pavlik in May are IBF champion Arthur Abraham and WBA champion Felix Sturm. Abraham has a title defense scheduled in March and Sturm defends his title at the end of April.
Some of the names mentioned include former champion Sergio Mora, current WBC junior middleweight champion Vernon Forrest, and former super middleweight champion Anthony Mundine. Mundine is the most competitive fight out of the three. More important is the money Mundine brings to the table with the Australian TV rights. Mundine is getting a working relationship in order with Golden Boy Promotions and is currently the mandatory to Sturm.
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