Pavlik-Abraham: Shouldn't Linear Champions Defend Their Titles?

[DrewWoodside]

You missed the point of this thread.

Since Pavlik is the CHAMPION at 160, he should defend the Ring and linear title once a year or at least once every two years. Although Williams and Abraham could fight each other, it's HIGH TIME Arum let Pavlik defend against a talented opponent instead of having a meaningless fight with a mediocre boxer like Mora.

He stepped up in weight to fight what I believe was the #4 P4P fighter in the Ring's Top 10. Do you not consider that Pavlik putting himself to the test? The fight before that was his mandatory and the fight after that was the comeback following the first defeat of his career. Of course Linear champions should defend their titles but they have a greater duty to taking on the best challenge possible. Bernard Hopkins is a better fighter than Arthur Abraham. I personally prefer challenge over trinket.

[jcarr71]

There was a very strong rumor floating around that Pavlik wasn't hurt at all before the Mora fight but instead was extremely unhappy with the job Top Rank was doing for him due to the reasons you listed. I'm sure you read those reports. Suddenly overnight however everyone's tune seemed to change and he is now reportedly about to sign an extension. Within the same week, Pavlik/Sturm rumors begin to leak out. Maybe I'm connecting dots that only look like they are in the same picture, but there seems to me to be a pattern there.

I think you're going to start seeing what you are looking for. I'm guessing Arum tried to overmilk Pavlik, almost lost him due to it, and is now going to get the real fights at 160. I could be wrong though.

[DrewWoodside]

There was a very strong rumor floating around that Pavlik wasn't hurt at all before the Mora fight but instead was extremely unhappy with the job Top Rank was doing for him due to the reasons you listed. I'm sure you read those reports. Suddenly overnight however everyone's tune seemed to change and he is now reportedly about to sign an extension. Within the same week, Pavlik/Sturm rumors begin to leak out. Maybe I'm connecting dots that only look like they are in the same picture, but there seems to me to be a pattern there.

I think you're going to start seeing what you are looking for. I'm guessing Arum tried to overmilk Pavlik, almost lost him due to it, and is now going to get the real fights at 160. I could be wrong though.

Yeah I'm pretty sure that's what is happening. But I think once you sign with Arum, he finds a way to do what he wants with the situation. He's definitely craftier than Pavlik. Hopefully his resigning will result in a really good fight being signed/announced in the next 2 months. I think Arum knows he'll lose a lot of Pavlik's fans the longer they have to wait for action.

[BattlingNelson]

If Abraham and Williams are looking for an opponent then they should fight one another buddy. All roads for you lead back to b*tching out Pavlik. I will be the first to admit that I want to see a fight with Abraham soon. But you keep pretending like everyone else is at the mercy of Pavlik's decisions. They are not and Abraham is making the least of his time without Pavlik. Abraham has a resume of can crushing.

Abraham is staying active and keeps on fighting. Saying that AA is only fighting cans is pushing it. He has defended against several contenders ranked by the Ring. I tend to agree with Tunney that the one standing in the way of making this match-up is Pavlik and his team. He's the protected one.

I suspect this dragging out and delaying tactics is made by Pavlik (Arum) only to eventually miss the match-up as AA is bound to move up sooner rather than later. If the fight doesn't come off, the blame for such a fiasco is solidly placed on Pavlik.

On the other hand I think it will come off this year. I consider the Sturm negotiations a smokescreen and a move to gain more bargaining power in negotiations with Sauerland.