By Lem Satterfield
The temperature in the middleweight division is started to rise once more with the grand arrival of Dmitry Pirog (17-0, 14 KOs) of Russia. Last weekend in Las Vegas, Pirog knocked out previously undefeated Daniel Jacobs (20-1, 17 KOs) in five rounds to capture the vacant WBO middleweight title.
Now Pirog is looking for another big fight, with former champion Kelly Pavlik as the target. According to Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, Priog's promoter Artie Pellulo reached out to see if there was any interest in making that fight. Arum says Pavlik and his team are on board to make the fight. Both promoters are hoping HBO is interested in picking up the fight for a year-end televised date.
"Artie Pellulo called me this past Sunday after the fight to see if Pavlik would be interested in that fight," said Arum. "And I checked with [Pavlik's manager] Cameron Dunkin, and I checked with Pavlik's people, and they said that yes, they would be interested."
"What we're trying to do, Art Pellulo and myself, is to intrerest HBO in a fight between Pavlik and Pirog this year on HBO. And now, we're waiting to hear back from HBO. It could take place whenever they could fit it in -- November, December. That would be a great fight, I think as the main event."
Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.
