Now that Kelly's 160lb reign is over.....where to?

[Suckmedry]

We can say that is easily among the most disappointing lineal title regins ever. Kelly came on to the scene with so much to offer with the big KO wins over Miranda and Taylor...then he rematched Taylor at a catchweight fair enough...then he dusted off Lockett..okay easy 1st defence....then he steps up to 170 and gets wiped out by Bernard...comes back and beats that Rubio guy, looks ok....looks better vs Espino...then fights well vs Martinez but gets cut and just can't make his mark on the fight, especially early and late.

Where can Kelly go now? He has a rematch clause with Martinez and I think he will take that up, and it is a fight I acutally think he can win (although not without difficulty). He just needs:

. A better cutman- whoever worked his cuts tonight did a **** job and the cuts ruined Kelly's momentum and confidence

.More punches- Kelly needed to let his hands go a bit more, especially when Martinez is near the ropes, and he needs to try and time Martinez as he moves, and time him as he darts in to flurry. But that said he did a bit of that in the middle rounds of the fight

. Now he is not really ever going to win the early rounds against the speed and movement of Sergio, but it would be nice to see him getting more busy even then to set up for the later rounds- especially to the body

.Strengthen his guard. No one expects Kelly to becoeme a slickster but a good tight guard with high hands would help him preserve his face a bit more

. Finish the show. Granted he didn't have Sergio badly hurt with the KD, but he really could have shown more killer instinct after wards and tried to follow up some more, the Kelly of '07 was a brutal finisher with a ******* of well placed powershots ready for a risen opponent.

The only problem is I suspect Kelly is going to be physically unable to make 160 pretty soon. He went up 18lbs tonight after weigh in and tbh looked fairly sluggish for it. A move to 168 might be an even better option than a SM rematch.

[Ray*]

Reign isnt over yet! He has a rematch coming up and if he loses that again then he need to move up. 160 might be a bit too much for him to make now.

[bunce101]

to the ufc where they have 4oz gloves

[Sweet Jesus]

Rematch against Martinez is next.

[carlos slim]

pavliks career on top is over....and i thought he would win because martinez lacked stamina before....but he caught second wind and he beat kellys ass he was bleeding out his ass...honestly they couldve stopped the fight anytime after round 9....pavlik sounds like a drunk too....

[carlos slim]

also he cant cutoff the ring and was scared to throw volume punches...symtom of the exectutioner???

[915]

also he cant cutoff the ring and was scared to throw volume punches...symtom of the exectutioner???

I TAKE DEM SOULS!!!!!

[bojangles1987]

Rematch, he can still get a fight with Paul sometime this year or early next probably, and from there who knows. He could try a move up to 168 but I think Pavlik knows he gets killed against guys like Dirrell or Ward.

[Allucard]

We can say that is easily among the most disappointing lineal title regins ever. Kelly came on to the scene with so much to offer with the big KO wins over Miranda and Taylor...then he rematched Taylor at a catchweight fair enough...then he dusted off Lockett..okay easy 1st defence....then he steps up to 170 and gets wiped out by Bernard...comes back and beats that Rubio guy, looks ok....looks better vs Espino...then fights well vs Martinez but gets cut and just can't make his mark on the fight, especially early and late.

Where can Kelly go now? He has a rematch clause with Martinez and I think he will take that up, and it is a fight I acutally think he can win (although not without difficulty). He just needs:

. A better cutman- whoever worked his cuts tonight did a **** job and the cuts ruined Kelly's momentum and confidence

.More punches- Kelly needed to let his hands go a bit more, especially when Martinez is near the ropes, and he needs to try and time Martinez as he moves, and time him as he darts in to flurry. But that said he did a bit of that in the middle rounds of the fight

. Now he is not really ever going to win the early rounds against the speed and movement of Sergio, but it would be nice to see him getting more busy even then to set up for the later rounds- especially to the body

.Strengthen his guard. No one expects Kelly to becoeme a slickster but a good tight guard with high hands would help him preserve his face a bit more

. Finish the show. Granted he didn't have Sergio badly hurt with the KD, but he really could have shown more killer instinct after wards and tried to follow up some more, the Kelly of '07 was a brutal finisher with a ******* of well placed powershots ready for a risen opponent.

The only problem is I suspect Kelly is going to be physically unable to make 160 pretty soon. He went up 18lbs tonight after weigh in and tbh looked fairly sluggish for it. A move to 168 might be an even better option than a SM rematch.

Kelly's problem is that he's a very slow fighter who refuses to add more dimensions to his game. The jab and the right hand can only take you so far. After people study a little bit of tape, that won't work anymore. On top of that as i said, he's slow. People will often say "you don't throw enough, throw more punches!" Well, that's what the bad corners will say, let it be said Pavlik as an horrendous corner. The real reason why sometimes fighters can't "pull the trigger" is that their brain doesn't communicate fast enough with their hands. When Pavlik saw a chance to throw he'd order the throw command but right after that realized the target was now somewhere else and the process has to restart (or just hit the air). At some point the horrendous corner noticed this (way too late) and told him to aim to Martinez's neck because they thought Martinez would always duck under. That also failed because Martinez is a good fighter and does know how to box, that means he'll not always duck under. Pavlik needs to go up in weight to fight slower opponents and hope his power goes up with him. IF that doesn't happen, I don't see a bright future for him.