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Serious posters only. If you're going to respond with a 1-2 sentence post, please don't bother.
After Saturday's war between Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams, many people were more than happy (and quick) to declare that Pavlik would beat or even annihilate Stretch Armstrong.
Sergio was able to land some clean and crushing blows on Williams sending him down to the canvas in the first round of the fight. Williams was hurt, no doubt, and he continuously was caught with clean punches through out the rest of the fight. But you can't declare that Pavlik would be successful in either beating or putting down Williams based off of Martinez's successes. They are 2 completely different boxers who have different fight plans.
The punch that put Williams down in round 1, what punch was that? A right hook. The rest of the punches that Williams were caught with for the rest of the night, what were they? Hooks and straight lefts. The hooks are the punches that can hurt williams. Now, one could argue that because Williams was caught by straight lefts, that Pavlik's straight rights could easily find their way in. That could have truth to it, but Martinez is a southpaw. Pavlik is not. Williams IS a southpaw. If there would be anyone would who have more success with their straight, it would be Williams. But back to why Martinez was successful in catching Williams.
Martinez's success was mostly due to his speed and craftiness. He was explosive at times throwing 3-4 punch combinations. During these exchanges, Williams would actually back off going into defensive mode. Martinez would occasionally throw a left jab to the body followed by a right hook to the dome. He was able to achieve this with his speed and defensive prowess as Williams wasn't able to counter that jab to the body effectively. Speaking of countering, Martinez was also able to counter effectively off of Williams's agression.
Pavlik is no Martinez
Pavlik contains no attributes Martinez does, he doesn't posses any skills Martinez has, he doesn't utilize any game plan that Martinez utilizes. Pavlik is as basic as you can get when it comes to the fight game. His bread and butter is the double left jab followed by the straight hand. He's had great success against aggressive, come forward fighters knocking the *** out of them.
But one of the key reasons he was successful in his biggest victories was because his workrate was larger than that of his opponent. He was able to overwhelm walking his opponents down slowly deconstructing their plan, defense and face. But why was he able to do that?
It is no secret that both Edison Miranda and Jermain Taylor have stamina issues. Both Miranda and Taylor attempted to get Pavlik out of their early in the fight and they paid for it dearly afterward. Their workrate dropped and Pavlik's increased. Their MOVEMENT stopped and Pavlik walked forward.
I believe that workrate would be the key factor in a possible Pavlik/Williams bout.
Williams doesn't stop throwing punches. He can get hurt, but the punches don't stop coming. Williams has more than just a double jab and straight right. Williams has the longest ****ing jab in boxing, too. Now think about that and ask yourself what happens when Pavlik gets hit multiple times? Take a look at the video below. Especially at 2:06
Now, before some of you crucify me, I'm not saying Williams is Hopkins. I'm asking you to notice one of Pavlik's weaknesses. He freezes when getting hit with combinations. Throw a little movement and angles which Paul CAN do and Pavlik is a sitting duck. Pavlik CANNOT fight going backwards either nor does he posses the craftiness and explosive speed Martinez does.
Pavlik's hooks aren't powerful enough to bring Williams down.
But his right hand IS. Question is, how often will he be able to get off EFFECTIVELY with his right hand? In this fight, Paul would be first AND last. How would Pavlik deal with the constant barrage of punches coming to him from all angles? My opinion is Paul's workrate would overwhelm Pavlik's non existent defense. Paul would freeze Pavlik up and would land the more effective and constant blows.
I'm not saying Pavlik would have NO success against Williams. Williams, too, has defensive openings which can be taken full advantage off, but I feel Pavlik doesn't contain the explosiveness or the savy to be able to utilize his most powerful punch through the kind of workrate that Paul would be putting him through. Does Pavlik's power still exist when punching from a defensive position? I feel that it doesn't. Pavlik's best success have come when his opponent is tired and no longer being aggressive. THATS when his money shot is effective. Williams will not tire out, Williams will ALWAYS be aggressive. And more active too.
Paul Williams > Kelly Pavlik if it ever happens.
After Saturday's war between Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams, many people were more than happy (and quick) to declare that Pavlik would beat or even annihilate Stretch Armstrong.
Sergio was able to land some clean and crushing blows on Williams sending him down to the canvas in the first round of the fight. Williams was hurt, no doubt, and he continuously was caught with clean punches through out the rest of the fight. But you can't declare that Pavlik would be successful in either beating or putting down Williams based off of Martinez's successes. They are 2 completely different boxers who have different fight plans.
The punch that put Williams down in round 1, what punch was that? A right hook. The rest of the punches that Williams were caught with for the rest of the night, what were they? Hooks and straight lefts. The hooks are the punches that can hurt williams. Now, one could argue that because Williams was caught by straight lefts, that Pavlik's straight rights could easily find their way in. That could have truth to it, but Martinez is a southpaw. Pavlik is not. Williams IS a southpaw. If there would be anyone would who have more success with their straight, it would be Williams. But back to why Martinez was successful in catching Williams.
Martinez's success was mostly due to his speed and craftiness. He was explosive at times throwing 3-4 punch combinations. During these exchanges, Williams would actually back off going into defensive mode. Martinez would occasionally throw a left jab to the body followed by a right hook to the dome. He was able to achieve this with his speed and defensive prowess as Williams wasn't able to counter that jab to the body effectively. Speaking of countering, Martinez was also able to counter effectively off of Williams's agression.
Pavlik is no Martinez
Pavlik contains no attributes Martinez does, he doesn't posses any skills Martinez has, he doesn't utilize any game plan that Martinez utilizes. Pavlik is as basic as you can get when it comes to the fight game. His bread and butter is the double left jab followed by the straight hand. He's had great success against aggressive, come forward fighters knocking the *** out of them.
But one of the key reasons he was successful in his biggest victories was because his workrate was larger than that of his opponent. He was able to overwhelm walking his opponents down slowly deconstructing their plan, defense and face. But why was he able to do that?
It is no secret that both Edison Miranda and Jermain Taylor have stamina issues. Both Miranda and Taylor attempted to get Pavlik out of their early in the fight and they paid for it dearly afterward. Their workrate dropped and Pavlik's increased. Their MOVEMENT stopped and Pavlik walked forward.
I believe that workrate would be the key factor in a possible Pavlik/Williams bout.
Williams doesn't stop throwing punches. He can get hurt, but the punches don't stop coming. Williams has more than just a double jab and straight right. Williams has the longest ****ing jab in boxing, too. Now think about that and ask yourself what happens when Pavlik gets hit multiple times? Take a look at the video below. Especially at 2:06
Now, before some of you crucify me, I'm not saying Williams is Hopkins. I'm asking you to notice one of Pavlik's weaknesses. He freezes when getting hit with combinations. Throw a little movement and angles which Paul CAN do and Pavlik is a sitting duck. Pavlik CANNOT fight going backwards either nor does he posses the craftiness and explosive speed Martinez does.
Pavlik's hooks aren't powerful enough to bring Williams down.
But his right hand IS. Question is, how often will he be able to get off EFFECTIVELY with his right hand? In this fight, Paul would be first AND last. How would Pavlik deal with the constant barrage of punches coming to him from all angles? My opinion is Paul's workrate would overwhelm Pavlik's non existent defense. Paul would freeze Pavlik up and would land the more effective and constant blows.
I'm not saying Pavlik would have NO success against Williams. Williams, too, has defensive openings which can be taken full advantage off, but I feel Pavlik doesn't contain the explosiveness or the savy to be able to utilize his most powerful punch through the kind of workrate that Paul would be putting him through. Does Pavlik's power still exist when punching from a defensive position? I feel that it doesn't. Pavlik's best success have come when his opponent is tired and no longer being aggressive. THATS when his money shot is effective. Williams will not tire out, Williams will ALWAYS be aggressive. And more active too.
Paul Williams > Kelly Pavlik if it ever happens.
With you, you know I favored Williams over Pavlik from day 1.
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