In Search of the Next Great Middleweight Contender

[Diego Morales]

I would love to see him fight at a catch weight again vs either Kessler or Calzaghe, but otherwise I guess Andy Lee, John Duddy for 160. Maybe a catchweight verse Tito Trinidad or Ricardo Mayorga????

[JakeNDaBox]

Bt the way this was a very informative article.

I have one question for the author: why would the winner of Zuniga/Lorenzo vs. Abraham not be, in your eyes, a legit contender? Assuming it's not Zuniga who emerges, the winner would have compiled a resume at least as good as Pavlik's was before fighting Taylor (Abraham will have beaten Miranda and Zuniga, just like Kelly; or Lorenzo will have beaten Zuniga and a guy who beat Miranda, and so better than Kelly's).

A good question, and hopefully I can justify my reasons.

Right now, neither Zuniga or Lorenzo are top ten contenders. One beating the other might warrant consideration, or you can make the case for Zuniga being top ten right now. But Lorenzo most certainly is not, and I'm not even sure beating Zuniga gets him in the Top 10.

And in comparing what Abraham could potentially achieve to Pavlik's run, you're leaving out that Pavlik also blitzed Zertuche, who fought Zuniga to a draw and was screwed out of a decision in the rematch. Abraham's most impressive wins to date are Eastman and Ikeke, with the biggest scalp on his ledger the controversial win over Miranda.

My main concern is that should PAvlik eventually face and beat Abraham (not to say it's a foregone conclusion, not by a longshot), that it results in the same fashion as Calzaghe-Kessler, where those in the know will treat the win with its proper respect, whereas those unfamiliar with Abraham (much like they were with Kessler) will merely (and erroneously) dismiss him as "another Euro hype job."

Beating a top 5 contender prior to facing Pavlik would go a long way in solidifying Abraham's credentials to those not already convinced. Beating Wright or Sylvester would do it for me, but Wright wants a king ransom fight fights against princes, and Sauerland most likely won't match together his own kids, since it would result in one cancelling out the other rather than both remaining in the mix.

[Tobi.G]

Andy Lee is nothing but a punk.

I'm not sold on him, yet.

I agree. He has beaten no one!

[Tobi.G]

If we can get Abraham to move out of Germany, I think he would do ok. I think Kelly wants to unify, but he'd be mad to go to Germany. All non German fighters should refuse to fight there in protest at the appalling standard of reffing and judging

Shut up! You dont know what you are talking about!

[podge]

give andy lee achance he is still young and by the end of the year will be ready.pavlik is a great fighter but lee is a southpaw 6ft 2 and a half inches is incredibly powerful with both hands.lets face it i hope duddy can put up a good show which i think he will as he has an incredible chin but wont have boxing skills to come anywhere near beating pavlik,but he wont get it easy off him.andy lee is nearest thingthere will be at middleweight by end of year or start of next to take pavlik

[JakeNDaBox]

It's funny, I've received a ****load of e-mails this morning regarding this article, and almost everyone of them mentioned that I overlooked Andy Lee.

To offer a blanket explanation - I left out Lee, Matthew Macklin, Mean Joe Greene, Craig McEwan and anyone else who I believed was more than a year away from being ready to challenge top contenders. I'm very high on Lee, but don't see him as being ready for the division's upper echelon before mid-2009 at the earliest. He's very talented, but still has a way to go. Though for what it's worth, I'd probably pick him over John Duddy RIGHT NOW... and with that said, I think Duddy's seriously overrated, just that there aren't enough established middleweights today to leave him out of the top ten

This article was more in reference to the top contenders today, and whether or not they'll take that one step to solidify status as Pavlik's biggest threat, the way Pavlik did after beating Miranda the way he did last year.

[Enlightened]

What about Winky?

Why is Winky Wright not being mentioned at all by anyone in this discussion?

[podge]

andy lee the man he will teach pavlik a lesson one dimensional fighter that he is one two that al he does we will see ye ****in punks