By Cliff Rold
Two down, eighteen to go.
It’s probably unlikely World Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik is heading towards breaking Bernard Hopkins record twenty any-title defenses or Carlos Monzon’s fourteen lineal, but if the defenses stay at the level of Gary Lockett and Marco Antonio Rubio, neither number is unreachable.
There was a lot of good on Saturday night for Boxing in the U.S. The vocal, enthusiastic crowd Pavlik drew in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio was good news for the game. Combined with his proven ticket selling ability in Atlantic City, Pavlik (35-0, 31 KO) remains, even in the wake of a defeat to Bernard Hopkins, one of the sport’s brightest young stars. It’s pretty clear Team Pavlik is looking to expand the shine of that star and maximize the available profits right now.
That means his biggest physical threat, German-based Armenian IBF Middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham (28-0, 23 KO) is not right around the corner.
Should U.S. fight lovers be happy about that? It’s not an easy answer.
Let’s go to report card.
Post-Fight Grades
Pre-Fight - Speed: Pavlik B; Rubio B/Post – B; B-
Pre-Fight - Power: Pavlik B+; Rubio B/Post – B+; C+
Pre-Fight - Defense: Pavlik B; Rubio C+/Post – B-; C
Pre-Fight - Intangibles: Pavlik B+; Rubio B/Post – B+; D
There’s really not a ton to say about the weekend’s big Middleweight engagement. Pavlik, a heavy favorite, acted like it and sent his fans home happy, bludgeoning Rubio for most of the rounds of the fight and showing no ill effects from defeat. Sometimes a loss is just a loss and there was a time in Boxing when losing didn’t provoke sociological babbling and ridiculous inspection of minutiae. We need more of that sort of old-time religion.
Against a legitimate top ten opponent (and what that says about depth at 160 is another matter), Pavlik applied constant pressure and showed off the full range of what still makes him one of the world’s best fighters. For a tall, lanky fighter, Pavlik goes to the body with conviction. He remains deceptively quick and his heavy shots accumulate to nasty affect. Pavlik didn’t get hit much on Saturday outside of a brief Rubio (43-5-1, 37 KO) rally in the middle rounds but where he got hit mattered. Rubio found success at mid-ring, just as Hopkins and previously Jermain Taylor had. When Pavlik can back a man up, forcing them to the corner or the ropes, he smothers the incoming and can be lethal with his long right and short hooks. On level ground, he’s vulnerable.
Rubio didn’t do enough to force geography into his favor early enough to make a fight. He wasn’t good enough and, worse, seemed intimidated early. After years of working for his big shot, he fought tight in the early going and the punishment sustained left him with little in the tank once he loosened up. Even after he found out he could land, Rubio chose safety over any sort of go for broke and eventually capitulated in the corner. The Mexican had shown moxie in the past; Pavlik punched it out of him as a champion is supposed to against the average contender.
Looking Ahead: Even before Pavlik-Rubio’s opening bell, most people assumed the outcome. The future was already more interesting than the present. Now that the obvious is official, the future looms even larger even if little has changed since a look at the division last week: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=18516
While WBA titlist Felix Sturm (31-2-1, 13 KO) has improved his standing over the last years and shown himself to be a quality number three in class, the best fight to be made at Middleweight remains exactly what it was the night Pavlik captured the title.
Here’s an interesting question though…assuming American fight fans are rooting for a more vibrant U.S. market, for consistent crowds like the one Pavlik drew, should they really root for a bout with Abraham? We know Team Pavlik is planning an active schedule this year, and a unification clash could be spotlighted by the end of 2009 with either Sturm or Abraham. However, if Abraham were to knock Pavlik out and take the Middleweight crown back to Germany, would anyone argue it as in the best interests of the sport here?
Ultimately the answer should be yes if for no other reason than geography shouldn’t get in the way of determining who is the best. Boxing has in America has survived worse and Pavlik’s drawing power is unlikely to recede if he did lose to Abraham (no gimme’ by any stretch). Like Arturo Gatti, he brings a high enough entertainment value to probably make him loss proof for a while.
The next logical question then is how long should Pavlik-Abraham be avoided? The answer if you’re Pavlik’s accountant is as long as possible, particularly with a strong potential gate fight like John Duddy (26-0, 17 KO) possible. If effective management in the sweet science is about most reward against least risk, well, there you go.
To their credit, Team Abraham has made a successful trek to the U.S. to raise global awareness. If Abraham’s people want the Pavlik fight above all others, and they at least offer such rhetoric, the best course of action may be to forget the lineal king for the time being and see if they can get the winner of April’s Winky Wright-Paul Williams bout to take a crack at their strap. Win and Abraham’s profile explodes to the point where arguments about ‘enough money to make the fight’ probably go away in real terms.
Rubio got a shot on Saturday because he was a WBC mandatory.
The emergent force from a bunch made up of Wright, Williams, and Abraham would have a mandate.
There’s a difference.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
