By Jake Donovan
 
The fight with Marco Antonio Rubio officially lasted nine rounds, but it was clear shortly after the opening bell that lineal middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik was already all the way back from his one-sided points loss to Bernard Hopkins last October.

The prodigal son of Youngstown, Ohio headlined a split-site pay-per-view card presented by Top Rank, designed to showcase two of their biggest stars coming off of the lone losses of their respective careers. Mission accomplished, as both Pavlik and Miguel Cotto posted stoppage wins, neither fighter losing so much as a round between them against the likes of Marco Antonio Rubio and Michael Jennings, respectively.

With the win, Pavlik is now two successful defenses deep into a middleweight reign that opened with a bang in September 2007. That night began with Pavlik on the canvas, moments away from being declared a 2nd round TKO loser at the hands of then-champion Jermain Taylor. It ended with a fantastic finish, pummeling the soon-to-be ex-champion to the canvas in violently snatching his undefeated record and the middleweight title.

Between then and now, Pavlik has established himself as a regional draw, bringing out the fans in his native Ohio as well as Atlantic City, even if there exits some 500 miles and eight hours of road time between them.

What he’s yet to establish is a title reign that even begins to warrant favorable discussion in one of boxing’s most storied divisions.

The nine-round demolition of Rubio was Pavlik’s fourth fight since becoming middleweight king. Two of the bouts were fought at catchweight limits – his February 2008 rematch with Jermain Taylor at a contracted weight of 166 lb, and his October 2008 boxing lesson at the hands of Bernard Hopkins, where they met at the HBOPPVweight limit of 170 lb.

Sandwiched in between his ventures beyond middleweight was the lone defense of his crown prior to last Saturday. That came last June in Atlantic City, where fans in attendance as well as HBO viewers were subjected to a three-round glorified sparring session against hopelessly overmatched mandatory challenger Gary Lockett.

The win over Rubio now gives Team Pavlik a better answer to the question, “Your most notable title defense came against whom”. But to put it in perspective, Marco Antonio Rubio is now the second most significant win among Pavlik’s current middleweight title reign.

His saving grace for the moment is the road that brought him to the top.

Knockout wins over Jose Luis Zertuche and Edison Miranda make for as respectable a path as any fighter could travel on the way to a title shot in this day and age. The two wins trumped anything Jermain Taylor accomplished before receiving his shot at Bernard Hopkins. For that matter, the aforementioned wins rate favorably with anything on Hopkins’ resume at least prior to his pair of defenses over Antwun Echols.

But where Pavlik’s predecessors still rank miles ahead is in what came after their arms were raised in victory in claiming the crown once worn by legends such as Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Carlos Monzon, Sugar Ray Robinson and Stanley Ketchel, among many others.

Hopkins went on to collect more alphabet defenses than any other middleweight in boxing history. Wins over Segundo Mercado, Keith Holmes, Felix Trinidad and Oscar de la Hoya earned The Executioner the distinction of becoming the only man in the history of the game to win and simultaneously own all four major alphabet titles.

It’s not to be confused with Taylor winning all four belts in one fight in 2005 – Hopkins defeated four separate titlists in earning the hardware for himself, along with lineal distinction in 2001 after serving as the last man standing in the middleweight tournament.

By comparison, Taylor never had much of a chance to live up to the legend, even in claiming a 2-0 lead in head-to-head matches. Many took issue with the manner in which he first won the title, and debate lingered in their rematch as well, with a healthy portion of fans and boxing experts alike believing Hopkins did no worse than split the two fights, if not deserve to win both outright.

Taylor’s two year stay atop the middleweight mountain was akin to the first four seasons of the hit television series LOST – there were far more questions raised than answers provided.

But by the time Taylor met Pavlik for their first fight in Atlantic City, already listed on his resume were the following credentials:

1. Two fights with Hopkins, a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame and regarded at the time as pound-for-pound the very best in the world

2. A dangerous defense against Winky Wright, former lineal junior middleweight champ and ranked high on most pound-for-pound lists at the time of the fight

3. The closest he’d receive to a tune-up, a December ’06 defense against former junior middleweight titlist Kassim Ouma

4. A May ’07 defense against former lineal welterweight champ and then top-rated junior middleweight titlist Cory Spinks.

Despite leaving behind him a trail of controversy in regards to some of the outcomes, what deserves to be noted is that the five aforementioned fights occurred in span of approximately 22 months.

Pavlik is presently five months shy of that mark. By the time July rolls around, he figures to be as deep into his reign, with another defense having possibly come as early as May, if promoter Bob Arum gets his wish. Undefeated fringe contender John Duddy was among the names being mentioned for Pavlik’s next defense, though Arum now suggests such a fight most likely wouldn’t happen until September, at which point Pavlik will be approaching his two-year anniversary as champion.

Several other candidates have been named. Two reside in the junior middleweight division. None of the fighters are named Arthur Abraham or Felix Sturm.

To his credit, Arum admitted on a pre-fight conference call that the two Eastern Europe middleweights are without question Pavlik’s most formidable challengers. However, in the business of making money, neither come with the mouth-watering appeal necessary to drive a promotion in the United States.

The concern, on the part of the Hall-of-Fame promoter, is satisfying the financial demands of all parties involved. With that, it is believed that the most sensible course of action is to find that balance where the fans are happy with the action offered, and Pavlik is content with the amount that finds its way to his own pocket.

From a business standpoint, it’s tough to argue with such logic, especially when it’s not your own money to begin with. In the business of establishing a title reign, the most glaring omission is the emphasis in putting the WORLD in Kelly Pavlik’s World Middleweight title reign.

Prior to Pavlik’s middleweight eliminator with Edison Miranda, Arum expressed disappointment in Team Taylor’s hesitance to match their kid against either fighter. “Marvelous Marvin Hagler would’ve never allowed such a fight to happen,” he explained, “because it would’ve denied him the opportunity of beating both fighters himself.”

Jermain Taylor’s reign ended with his being perhaps the most criticized lineal champion in recent history. If the criticism were warranted, then that would set the bar rather low for Pavlik to surpass.

Yet for the moment, he continues to play catch up.
 
Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .