Kelly Pavlik vs. John Duddy in MSG on June 7?

[THE REED]

Perfect. ****ing perfect. Ok. Now I'm 1005 behind this fight. If you fight three times in one year... you should be able to take one fight off.

Undefeated Irish middleweight. Comin off a (close) unanimous decision over what's left of Howard Eastman. He's slow and drops his hands alot. Moderate power. Good chin. Fan favorite in the NYC area. Big following in the Irish American community. He usually fights a showcase fight at the Graden St. Patrick's Day Weekend. Future tomato can for the middle weight/SMW division.

Undefeated young guy, has 23 wins no losses. He's somewhat good, I see too many flaws in him, I don't really think he's champ material. Pavlik would beat him down.

thanks to the both of you.. with all that siad... why the hell is he fighting him then?

[-Antonio-]

I was mad at first because Cotto seemed to have a great thing going there fighting on the eve of the PR parade.

But then I read this:

Arum plans to showcase Puerto Rican fighters Ivan Calderon and Juan Manuel Lopez.

There is also a chance that IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (25-0, 20KOs) will appear on the undercard. Arum has been in talks with Abraham's promoter, Sauerland Event, about appearing on the undercard with unbeaten Giovanni Lorenzo (26-0, 18KOs) as the opponent. Following Duddy, the year may end off with Pavlik facing Abraham in a middleweight unification bout.

I hope he can really get Abraham on the card.

[-Antonio-]

Undefeated Irish middleweight. Comin off a (close) unanimous decision over what's left of Howard Eastman. He's slow and drops his hands alot. Moderate power. Good chin. Fan favorite in the NYC area. Big following in the Irish American community. He usually fights a showcase fight at the Graden St. Patrick's Day Weekend. Future tomato can for the middle weight/SMW division.

That's exactly why he's first in line for title defenses. Build Pavlik's name up, and put on a show for the fans. It's disappointing that Pavlik is already headlining PPVs right out of the gate, but at least Arum is putting on good enough undercards to compensate.

Wtf? Is Pavlik completely overlooking the fact that he's fighting someone better than both Abraham and Duddy?

Debatable.

[HappyBoxingFan]

thanks to the both of you.. with all that siad... why the hell is he fighting him then?

Hopefully.. and I'm guessing just on what other people have hinted at... It's to showcase both PAVLIK and ABRAHAM for a fight later this year. Duddy brings a crowd... and Abraham needs exposure in America. I think this sets up perfectly. Pavlik can do this between two Word Class fighters. No one is fighting three headliners in a year anyway.

Other than that... you guessed it... M O N E Y

[TheGreatA]

A card with Pavlik vs Duddy and Abraham vs Sturm (unlikely but I want to see it) would be good. Winners fight each other to unify the belts, though Pavlik is obviously the real, linear champion.

Duddy is sold a bit short, he is tough and he has beaten some decent competition. People probably said the same about Pavlik when he was coming up. Almost no one thought he would be any good.

[DrewWoodside]

I don't like this fight. Well, I mean I do, because it's in NY and I can go... but... Duddy? Couldn't we have gotten Abraham to come to the states. The next fight better be against a real opponent.

this guy has been pedal to the medal for quite some time now. I think he has every right to take a breather especially since he's fighting so regularly..

[Degsy]

If he fought JOE C that would be so ****ING BOSS. I suggested this awhile back and everyone here said I didn't know what I was talking about... joe C wouldn't fight anywhere but 175... Has that changed?

They may have beat you down without reading your post properly....with respect you can sometimes, how can I say this diplomatically....a) stir up the discussion, or b) bring an objective point to a subjective thread c) always like the last word!!!!! (I don't mind, you normally good value!)

Anyway, on to the point of your question, Joe has been quoted as saying he wants to fight a top guy who is in their prime, by a process of elimination (top and prime) that leaves three suspects : Kelly or Jermain (at 168 or catch) or Bad Chad at 175 or all the way down to 168 (which the 6'3' Chad reckons he can still make!)

If you can think of anyone else let me know, but I tend to agree with you that Joe - Kelly would be a great fight

[DrewWoodside]

If Pavlik gets a chance i would pick him to beat both german's with relative ease.

[DrewWoodside]

They may have beat you down without reading your post properly....with respect you can sometimes, how can I say this diplomatically....a) stir up the discussion, or b) bring an objective point to a subjective thread c) always like the last word!!!!! (I don't mind, you normally good value!)

Anyway, on to the point of your question, Joe has been quoted as saying he wants to fight a top guy who is in their prime, by a process of elimination (top and prime) that leaves three suspects : Kelly or Jermain (at 168 or catch) or Bad Chad at 175 or all the way down to 168 (which the 6'3' Chad reckons he can still make!)

If you can think of anyone else let me know, but I tend to agree with you that Joe - Kelly would be a great fight

this is without a doubt the fight i most want to see.. I do think Pavlik would need atleast one fight at SMW b4 he takes on the SMW champ.

[Derranged_]

Why are people here so ‘offended’ that John Duddy is getting a title shot? He is after all ranked 3rd by the WBC, 6th by the WBA, 11th by the IBF, and 3rd by the WBO. Basically, the sanctioning bodies think he’s a worthy contender, so why don’t fans? It’s not like Duddy’s not ranked…

And btw, “The Ring” ranks Duddy 10th…