Comments Thread For: Time To Give A Damn About The Middleweights Again

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Jake Donovan - Raise your hand if you remember the last middleweight title fight you were actually looking forward to see.

Let me lend you a friendly assist; if you have any standards whatsoever, then that last moment came more than 2 ½ years ago.

It was when an undefeated contender named Kelly Pavlik peeled himself off of the canvas early to rally back and violently snatch the middleweight crown from the reigning undefeated champion, Jermain Taylor.

The fight was an instant classic, complete with a highlight reel ending and as fitting a changing of the guard as the sport had seen in recent memory.

Taylor was a man without an island heading into the fight, his popularity – and arguably his skill level – dramatically regressing with each passing fight. Pavlik, meanwhile, brought a traveling crowd by the thousands, with a large throng of fans making the eight-hour trek from Youngstown, Ohio to Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Saturday night will mark his third trip back to the East Coast casino town since scoring the career-defining win to ignite his middleweight reign. However, it will be the first time since his title-winning effort in which boxing fans genuinely and eagerly await. [Click Here To Read More]

[Lacrimosa]

Yeah right... The only middleweight fight that could matter was AA/Pavlik, and it didn`t happen, thanks to promoters... Pavlik/Martinez is THE ONLY middleweight fight for a moment, after it happens there is nothing to look forward to in this division... And somebody says the HW division is dead...

P.S. 1000!!!

[antrob]

Yeah right... The only middleweight fight that could matter was AA/Pavlik, and it didn`t happen, thanks to promoters... Pavlik/Martinez is THE ONLY middleweight fight for a moment, after it happens there is nothing to look forward to in this division... And somebody says the HW division is dead...

P.S. 1000!!!

I gotta argree with you. Unless Paul Willams beats Cintron next month and then fights Pavlik the middleweight division is dead until Danny Jacobs and Matt Korobov and the rest of the young guys develop.

[the mesiah]

Once p-dub does win in may, and maybe. If kells wins this Saturday , this matchup on saturday will take a back seat to #2 matchup of 2010 at 160. There is a back drop story between kells/p-dub for a while now , sturm is the only other one at 160, but no one looks forward to him compared to others just named .

[Jim Jeffries]

If the Pavlik/Martinez fight is half as good as Sergio's fight with Williams, I'll be happy. Winner fights Williams and then there'll be a slow spot for a bit till the great crop of prospects are ready (Jacobs, Golovkin, Korobov, etc.)

[Devils Advocate]

I gotta argree with you. Unless Paul Willams beats Cintron next month and then fights Pavlik the middleweight division is dead until Danny Jacobs and Matt Korobov and the rest of the young guys develop.

1 fight doesn't mean its time to give a damn again. After Martinez what is left? The Pavlik camp keeps talking about cleaning out the division how do you accomplish that, Sturm ain't fighting, Abraham is gone. At least Abraham made 7 defenses of his title.

[ShoulderRoll]

One thing Pavlik can do (if he gets past Martinez) is try to unify all the belts. That is a worthy goal especially when a division is weak.

[Siggy]

I gotta argree with you. Unless Paul Willams beats Cintron next month and then fights Pavlik the middleweight division is dead until Danny Jacobs and Matt Korobov and the rest of the young guys develop.

theres tons of new blood in the middleweight division that people are sleeping on.
there's the 2 you mentioned plus fernando guerrero (who btw is fighting this w/e on showtime), gennady golovkin (who i think is better than korobov), dmitry pirog, hassan n'jikam, david lemieux, peter quillin, etc.
by the time the top of the division clears up with sergio, pavlik, p-will, sturm and even cintron who i think could handle the move to MW a few of those newer names will be ready to emerge.

[Siggy]

1 fight doesn't mean its time to give a damn again. After Martinez what is left? The Pavlik camp keeps talking about cleaning out the division how do you accomplish that, Sturm ain't fighting, Abraham is gone. At least Abraham made 7 defenses of his title.

sturm bought his freedom and is slated to take his 2nd crack at the US with freddie roach in his corner.

[TheJayMan]

boxing is far too dynamic of a sport to make any declarations, one way or the other...

less than a year ago, welterweights were considered--far & away--the cream of boxing, with jr. welter identified as an utter joke of a weight class.

today, mosley is in his late 30s, floyd is not far behind & cherry-picks matchups (tough, soft, or otherwise...he is not at the 'fight all comers' stage), cotto seemingly moved up to jr middle, pacman has maybe a few more fights left (involving either mosley, mayweather, margarito or apparently maybe berto as legit welters), & finally berto. who else is there? clottey? is anyone that amped by a theoretical berto-clottey matchup? collazo-berto II is a real good fight on paper, but doesn't have anyone but boxing freaks excited (or even interested). williams seems destined for jr middle or middleweight... its not that loaded of a division anymore, outside of a couple of specific fights/matchups.

today, jr welter has bradley, devon alexander, maidana, amir khan, malignaggi, marquez, potentially diaz (a name, exciting-styled albeit overmatched fighter at jr welter), valero (if he ever gets his **** together), marquez (for a fight or two)...hell, even a victor ortiz or urango for good measure. the division is stacked right now, with fascinating matchups all around (for both winners, & losers of near-future bouts)...

point being: who knows, truly, about middleweight right now? clearly super middle is far more fascinating, but you have pavlik (presumably healthy finally), sergio martinez (particularly if he wins, but even if he loses he can fight & contend at that weight) & paul williams. guys like korobov & jacobs are seemingly a few years away, but things change quickly, & they could be only a year (maybe even less) from big-time relevancy (look at how quickly guys like alexander & maidana became relevant names at 140)...guys like angulo or kirkland may, or could, move up for big-time fights (certainly their frames support such a weight, & with kirkland coming out of the pen, he might have more difficulty making 154, but would--i think--still be a handful at 160, if not an outright beast)...a guy like david lemieux waits in the wings (seemingly a few years away still, but when considering the immediate & overall unexpected emergence of a maidana or valero from 'near urban-legend status power-punchers' to 'legit forces,' one never knows)...its not as awful as many make it seem.

****, even heavyweight would become interesting if david haye produced a miracle & dethroned wlad or vitali (matchups with adamek, arreola, chambers, etc. FAR more interesting with haye in there, rather than the klits)...

lets just be happy we have a nice tussle on saturday...