Promoter Jean Bedard of InterBox is currently in negotiations with Top Rank to secure Kelly Pavlik as the next opponent for former super middleweight champion Lucian Bute. Pavlik was scheduled to fight WBC/WBA champion Andre Ward, who fell out due to a shoulder injury. Bute has a rematch clause to face IBF champion Carl Froch, but the English is close to a deal to face WBA "regular" king Mikkel Kessler.
According to Jack Loew, trainer for super middleweight Kelly Pavlik, the boxer's mood began to change after a telephone conversation with his manager Cameron Dunkin last Friday. Pavlik and Dunkin discussed his purse for a planned November clash with IBF champion Lucian Bute.
Sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations advised BoxingScene.com that Mikkel Kessler was getting "far less" than the reported $3.5 million to fight IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute.
The timing of Kelly Pavlik’s surprising withdrawal from a tune-up fight Saturday night and a subsequent title fight was far from good.
Kelly Pavlik’s promoter suspects the embattled former middleweight champion’s abrupt withdrawal from a tune-up fight against Darryl Cunningham had more to do with desire than money.
If there's anything worse than underpaying a fighter, it is directly questioning a fighter's desire to get in the ring.
Super middleweight contender Kelly Pavlik spoke to NBC affiliate WFMJ and told the outlet that his withdrawal from this Saturday's fight with Darryl Cunningham was a "business decision." Pavlik is not happy with money involved in his two fight deal, which involved the bout with Cunningham and a fall showdown with IBF champion Lucian Bute of Canada.
Former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (37-2, 32KOs) returns on Saturday against Darryl Cunningham (23-2, 10KOs) at the Covelli Center in Youngstown, Ohio. If Pavlik wins, he would travel up to Canada to face IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute. A win over Bute (29-0, 24KOs), considered one of the best pound for pound fighters in boxing, would be a major boost to Pavlik's career.
Kelly Pavlik isn’t intimidated by the probability of battling Lucian Bute later this year.
Kelly Pavlik acknowledged on a conference call on Wednesday that he was involved in an altercation with his older brother earlier this month, but the former middleweight champion emphasized that the incident hasn’t hurt his focus for an Aug. 6 fight in his hometown.