Kelly Pavlik is Making the Move to Super MIddleweight to Fight Bernard Hopkins

Although it finally looks like we may see a Kelly Pavlik - Joe Calzaghe showdown in the future, in the mean time both fighters still have impending bouts to worry about before then. Calzaghe is signed and set to go against Jones, but Pavlik has been struggling to find an adequate opponent, that is until now.

We recently reported that the match-up with welterweight champ Paul Williams was close to being inked, and it was close, however as things often do in the sport of boxing, it fell through due to monitory issues.  The fight wouldn't generate enough of it. 

After going through a fairly diverse list of welterweights, junior middles, and middleweights, that included Sergio Mora, Marco Antonio Rubio, Paul Williams, Randy Griffin and Winky Wright, The Ghost's camp decided on a light heavyweight of all things, former Ring champ and "legend," Bernard Hopkins. 

Dan Rafael, from ESPN, broke the news this morning. "There's a deal, but there are a few details to be tied up," Arum said. "But the fight is happening."

Although this is definitely not Pavlik's first choice (or ours for that matter), this bout will be directly beneficial to Kelly in three ways.  (1) If he plans to take on Joe Calzaghe at super middleweight, this fight will be a perfect test at the higher weight (2) We will all be able to compare and contrast how Pavlik handles Hopkins as opposed to his counterpart Joe C. (3) If he defeats Hopkins, he scores a win over a legend of the sport, and although over-the-hill, he still shows up on many people's top ten pound-for-pound list. 

With all that said, this is not and easy fight by any means. Hopkins will give anyone a tough time in the ring and "Kelly isn't thrilled with the fight, but if he is going to fight Calzaghe, it gets him ready for that fight," said Jack Loew, Pavlik's trainer.

Who can blame him though? Most fighters wouldn't even think of taking a fight with a crafty vet like Hopkins, who has the ability to make anyone look horrible in the ring, especially when there is not a belt on the line. But, Pavlik is showing that he is a true champ and is willing to take on whoever is put in front of him, unlike many of the fighters out there (eh hmm... Floyd).

The fight will take place at the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J. and will be broadcast on HBO Pay-Per-View live October 18th.

Jermain Taylor to Fight for Super Middleweight Crown?

Whenever the contract is formally inked for the Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones Jr. fight, Joe C. will be directed to relinquish his WBC super middleweight belt as a result of staying up in the light heavyweight division.

Next in line for the interim belt, is apparently former undisputed middleweight champ of the world, Jermain Taylor, despite not having any previous fights at 168 lbs.  The man standing in between him and the super middleweight title is the little-known undefeated prospect, Carl Froch, by way of the United Kingdom. 

Though negotiations have only just begun, Froch had a few choice words for Mr. Bad Intentions. "I just hope Taylor shows a real fighting heart and goes through with this fight... I've heard he was talking about fighting Jeff Lacy," said Froch. "I would knock Lacy out in a round or two and it's an easy fight for Taylor, so I just hope Jermain doesn't squirm out of the situation with me."

Lou DiBella, Taylor's promoted asked, "Who is Carl Froch?" And so did we.  Not to say that he isn't a very good fighter, but these are some big words directed at an established fighter, whereas he cannot say the same for himself.  

Jermain Taylor has somewhat fallen of the charts for the past few months after the only two losses of his career, both to Kelly Pavlik. However, we are quick to forget that Taylor defeated the so called "legend", Bernard Hopkins, on two separate occasions (in Hopkin's prime) and just over a year ago was in the top ten of many pound-for-pound lists. Joe Calzaghe barely came out of the ring with a win against an over-the-hill Hopkins, yet he is praised for beating a "legend of the sport."

Taylor  is still one of the best middle divison fighters in the world, he just happened to run into the best in his last two bouts.  Whichever fight he pursues next should be a great comeback for Arkansas' own, Jermain Bad Intentions Taylor.

De La Hoya Tuned up

Last night the Golden Boy honed his skills against the over-matched Steve 2 Pound Forbes.  If it were a movie script, there were very few moments in which the fight failed to follow the plot-line that the writers would have intended,  for the most part we all witnessed what was expected.

Forbes, fighting up in weight and giving three inches in height and arm length, gave De La Hoya everything he could muster.  Although losing every round but two (by my count) Forbes was absorbing some of Oscar's best shots and never really found him self in any danger of being KO'd. This could be either a testament to Forbe's tough chin or the fading power of the Golden Boy's once devastating left hook.  With that said, De La Hoya did look faster and more agile than we have seen in years.  But it is time to face reality.  

In this decade De La Hoya has done two notable things:

1.) He has become the most popular boxer of his era, transcending the sport as we know it; a boxer and a business mogul   2.) He has lost nearly every major fight in which he faced a top opponent.  

De La Hoya is not the fighter he used to be or maybe ever was.  It is possible that his immense popularity coupled with a few signature wins have led both

the boxing media and the general public to rank him higher than his abilities would suggest. Since 1999, he has suffered defeat at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Felix Trinidad, twice by Shane Mosley, was KO'd by Bernard Hopkins, and we can consider his fight with the previously undefeated Felix Sturm a loss as well, because it seemed as though the only reason he was given the decision was due to the Golden Boy's impending super-fight already scheduled for the coming months with Hopkins.  Which leads me to a point... tune-up fights.  

The excitement (or lack there of) leading up to this fight and others like them recalls memories of how I felt when I was sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, driving to my great aunt and uncle's to have dinner at one of California's finest barbecue chains (which actually isn't that bad except for the fact that every time I visit they tell me I have to try this new place to eat - I think they forget that they have taken me there the last three times.) That bad. 

Let face it, nothing short of knocking De La Hoya cold through the ropes would have propelled Steve Forbes to a victory last night.  There are hundreds of millions of dollars that would not have been spent and subsequently made if The Golden Boy lost the bout.  For instance, two months ago I happened to catch a glimpse of a not yet released fight poster (I may or may not be fairly close with the artist) depicting an illustration of Mayweather and De La Hoya for a promotion waiting to be distributed by a major company.  Two months ago!  The contract for the fight has yet to be officially signed and sanctioned, yet these people are making posters. That sheds some light on how this fight was going to turn out from the start, no matter what happened. Not cool.  

Last but not least, I found it very interesting to watch The Golden Boy's selection process for his opponent in this fight.  He seemed to be searching for small, quick, intelligent boxers to simulate a fight between his upcoming adversary.  After tossing around many names, he narrowed it down to three, one of them being the junior welterweight IBF champion, Paulie Malignaggi.  Now that got me excited.  Malignaggi would have with out a doubt been a perfect simulation of Mayweather's style. Such a close simulation in fact, it would have been too close to the real thing and  The Golden Boy would have found a big L next to his name after the final bell.

Of course Oscar's intelligence and business savvy prevailed once again, and now instead of watching a truly great fight (Malignaggi vs. De La Hoya) with a chance of a De La Hoya loss that would create the possiblity for Mayweather to have take on a different fighter (say Miguel Cotto), we are now subjected to two fights that (I think it is safe to say) you and I could have done without.