Tito vs Pavlik On June 7th as MSG!!!

DLT18y ago

I dont like to toot my own horn but I pretty much called this one. After the Tito-RJ fight no one talked about this but I honestly thought it would be the perfect matchup. Tito looked way better then he has in a long time. I thought that the move up in weight may actually help Tito because even though he never looked like a big physical MW, he did gain a ton of weights between fights so I felt he may actually be better at a higher weight. Obviously RJ was too big and so was 170 but I felt that Tito could look very good at 168 and beat Pavlik. I talk a little about it in the thread below. The problem with this fight is that Arum is saying it has to be at 160. Why? In the HBO countdown Pavlik talked about how he is comfortable with the extra weight because he's bigger then Taylor. It will be pretty much the same for Tito. Besides, we all know that Tito will call the shots. Pavlik may be the man but Tito brings the big dollars and it would be a big time fight in MSG so I think that Pavlik would go up. I think they will make it just like the Taylor fight so it will be at 166. I honestly think that Tito can knock him out if he looks as good as he did against RJ. If it was at 168 then I would definatly pick Taylor. At 166 I call it 55/45 for Tito but at 160 I think Pavlik wins. http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3092077#post3092077 LAS VEGAS -- Middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik faces Jermain Taylor on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in their 166-pound non-title rematch, but his promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, is laying the groundwork for Pavlik's next fight. It could come against former three-division champion Felix Trinidad on June 7 at New York's Madison Square Garden, Arum told ESPN.com on Friday. Win or lose, Pavlik will remain middleweight champion and Arum is planning his first defense. The leading candidate remains popular rising contender "Irish" John Duddy, who is a big attraction in New York. Pavlik and Taylor weighed in at 164 pounds Friday, four pounds over the middleweight limit but two under the limit agreed to by both fighters. Arum said he has spoken to Don King, Trinidad's promoter, about making Pavlik-Trinidad, which would take place the night before the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York. "We've talked," Arum said. "Then King went down to Puerto Rico to meet with Trinidad last week. Then we spoke this week before he went to Germany and he said the meeting with the Trinidads went positively." King is in Germany, where he has Sergei Liakhovich fighting Nikolai Valuev in a heavyweight elimination fight on Saturday night. Arum said he and King will meet face-to-face in New York next Friday to further discuss the bout. Trinidad, an icon in Puerto Rico with a tremendous following in New York, is coming off a decision loss to Roy Jones on Jan. 19, but the former three-division champion looked good in a bout fought at 170 pounds, 10 pounds heavier than Trinidad had ever fought at before. For the past few years, Arum has had Miguel Cotto, his Puerto Rican star, headline on the Puerto Rican Day parade weekend. But this year, Cotto is scheduled to fight Alfonso Gomez on April 12 and the turnaround to June 7 is too quick. Arum plans to keep the date at Madison Square Garden and put Pavlik in the headline fight with an undercard built around some of his Puerto Rican fighters, such as junior flyweight champion Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon and junior featherweight contender Juan Manuel Lopez. Arum is coming to New York next week to watch Duddy fight on the undercard of next Saturday's Wladimir Klitschko-Sultan Ibragimov undercard at the Garden. Arum said Pavlik-Duddy would be an HBO fight, possibly with middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham on the undercard to give him exposure ahead of a possible fall fight with Pavlik. Abraham's next defense, announced Friday, will come March 29 in Kiel, Germany, against Elvin Ayala, who is coming off a draw with first-season "Contender" winner Sergio Mora. Pavlik-Trinidad would be an HBO PPV fight, Arum said. There is concern about whether Trinidad can make 160 pounds. He struggled to make 170 for Jones. But Arum said the fight would have to be at 160. Pavlik is unaware of the discussions, Arum said, but Top Rank's matchmakers and Pavlik's manager, Cameron Dunkin, are aware of the talks and like the match. "If Trinidad can make that weight and provided the split is right, we would love to make the fight," Arum said. "But I won't know for sure until I meet with King

Comments (12)

slicksouthpaw16

I dont know man. I think if your talking about there prime then I would probally go with Pavlik since I dont think Tito was a real MW at the time but if your talking about P4P in there prime then I like Tito. I think Tito was faster and hit even harder even though that could be debated. I just think because Tito has been washed up for a long time that people forget how good he was. Dude was alot faster then people remember and he had crazy power. I think RJ is definatly past his prime but you could still see that Tito was better then he was against Winky. He was faster this time and I think he had very good power but he clearly was still a little too small at 170 and RJ was too big. I think at 166 like the Taylor fight will be, I wouldnt be shocked at all if Tito KO Pavlik. The Trinidad that fought William Joppy would get slaughtered by Pavlik to be honest. Just look at the styles, Trinidad would have a bigger, younger, stronger knockout artist in front of him that never takes a step back. Both Miranda and Taylor hits harder than Trinidad so its not like Pavlik couldn't take what Trinidad had to dish out. The reach would be a big factor in this fight. Jermain is more veritale, taller, and has a longer reach than Trinidad and he had a hard time connecting to Pavlik. I know you guys say that Pavlik's style is bad for Tito but I actually think its perfedct. Tito has problem with master boxers. Pavliks is very good but he isnt a master boxer. I dont think the reach is a big deal. Tito is also tall and he's got pretty long arms. He also fights long. Besides that, its not like Pavlik has great defense. Tito will land alot and he can still hurt cats. Weve also seen Pavlik hurt a few times and I still think Tito is a bigger puncher then Taylor & Miranda because its a more disciplined punch Trinidad does not hit harder than Miranda or Taylor to be honest. They are natural middleweights with lighthevyweight frames and Trinidad is coming up from welterweight. Tito has problems with pure boxers but he would also have a very big problem with a bigger, alot stronger, and one punch knockout artist that is at his natural weight. Tito has long arms but Taylor and Miranda's arms are longer than Trinidads and they could not hit Pavlik at will, plus they are also buiser than Trinidad as well. Trinidad needs to be set when he punches so how could he do that when Pavlik is backing him up with hooks, jabs, and right hands for the entire fight?

18y ago

Antonio

I mean Tito's power makes it interesting, but come on he's shot. He was surprisingly solid early against Roy because Roy pretty much let him.

18y ago

DLT

Thats Roy, he looked that good because Roy is also past his prime and had slowed down. Pavlik would keep Trinidad at bay with the jab and the right hand itself would do very harmful damage on the older Trinidad. Tito would rarely connect because of Pavlik's suprerior reach. I can not picture this fight going past 4 rounds unless Pavlik feels sorry for Trinidad and plans to carry him through the fight, which i cant see happening because Pavlik is a vicous fighter. Honestly, prime Trinidad wouldn't stand a chance against Pavlik. I dont know man. I think if your talking about there prime then I would probally go with Pavlik since I dont think Tito was a real MW at the time but if your talking about P4P in there prime then I like Tito. I think Tito was faster and hit even harder even though that could be debated. I just think because Tito has been washed up for a long time that people forget how good he was. Dude was alot faster then people remember and he had crazy power. I think RJ is definatly past his prime but you could still see that Tito was better then he was against Winky. He was faster this time and I think he had very good power but he clearly was still a little too small at 170 and RJ was too big. I think at 166 like the Taylor fight will be, I wouldnt be shocked at all if Tito KO Pavlik. I know you guys say that Pavlik's style is bad for Tito but I actually think its perfedct. Tito has problem with master boxers. Pavliks is very good but he isnt a master boxer. I dont think the reach is a big deal. Tito is also tall and he's got pretty long arms. He also fights long. Besides that, its not like Pavlik has great defense. Tito will land alot and he can still hurt cats. Weve also seen Pavlik hurt a few times and I still think Tito is a bigger puncher then Taylor & Miranda because its a more disciplined punch

18y ago

slicksouthpaw16

I dont know man. Tito looked like he had grown into the weight better in the RJ fight. I would take Tito at 168 but I dont know about lower Thats Roy, he looked that good because Roy is also past his prime and had slowed down. Pavlik would keep Trinidad at bay with the jab and the right hand itself would do very harmful damage on the older Trinidad. Tito would rarely connect because of Pavlik's suprerior reach. I can not picture this fight going past 4 rounds unless Pavlik feels sorry for Trinidad and plans to carry him through the fight, which i cant see happening because Pavlik is a vicous fighter. Honestly, prime Trinidad wouldn't stand a chance against Pavlik.

18y ago

Ironside

I hope that this a joke, seriously. I hope that the Trinidad camp will not take this fight. Not only is this a horrible style match up for Trinidad, but he is also past his prime. Pavlik would beat any version of Trinidad because he is alot bigger, most powerful fighter that he has ever fought, and never takes a step back. Trinidad would get ran over and out by the 4th round in idiotic match up. Trinidad is better off facing Oscar for a rematch or some of the fighter his size.Agree 100% Trinidad would be badly hurt.

18y ago

slicksouthpaw16

i think Pav should worry about getting through Taylor tomorrow. If Pavlik looks past Taylor than he will definatley lose, Jermain is more focused than ever and he means buisness.

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18y ago

My bad, I never saw the other thread. You can forget this one

18y ago

F22_Raptor

BTW, I also think that Taylor may win this fight so it might not matter much anyway. On the other hand I also think that if Taylor wins then he could also fight Tito but there might be a trilogy 1st If Taylor loses there WILL be a trilogy...you know it. And if Pavlik wins...he would assasinate Tito in 4 rounds.

18y ago

DLT

BTW, I also think that Taylor may win this fight so it might not matter much anyway. On the other hand I also think that if Taylor wins then he could also fight Tito but there might be a trilogy 1st

18y ago