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It's my understanding that HBO were interested in Pavlik-Abraham, but because of Abraham's mandatory it couldn't be arranged.
If Abraham had fought Pavlik, he would've been well paid and had the chance to get international recognition, beat one of the highest rated fighters in the sport, and become the undisputed middleweight champ.
They may still fight at some point in the future, but the fight will surely not generate as much interest (or money) because 1) Pavlik has lost now, and so is not as highly rated or popular and 2) The longer time goes on, the more people will have forgotten Abraham's KO of Miranda, making him less of an attraction in the US.
There's also the fact that Abraham seems to be having problems making weight, so it was important to make the fight as soon as possible.
I know that it's easy to say this in hindsight, but it seems like quite a big error by Abraham's team to not just pay Marquez some step aside money.
Abraham might have lost, of course, but I don't think it would've been hard for him to get his career back on track afterwards.
If Abraham had fought Pavlik, he would've been well paid and had the chance to get international recognition, beat one of the highest rated fighters in the sport, and become the undisputed middleweight champ.
They may still fight at some point in the future, but the fight will surely not generate as much interest (or money) because 1) Pavlik has lost now, and so is not as highly rated or popular and 2) The longer time goes on, the more people will have forgotten Abraham's KO of Miranda, making him less of an attraction in the US.
There's also the fact that Abraham seems to be having problems making weight, so it was important to make the fight as soon as possible.
I know that it's easy to say this in hindsight, but it seems like quite a big error by Abraham's team to not just pay Marquez some step aside money.
Abraham might have lost, of course, but I don't think it would've been hard for him to get his career back on track afterwards.