I love Joe Calzaghe!

[Kirkland Laing]

It's a fact Pavlik ko'd Taylor in 7 rounds. The reason for the second fight was Taylor invoked his 160+lbs rematch clause. Otherwise Pavlik would have been fighting Duddy.

So.. Pavlik didn't WANT to fight Hopkins, and has NO say in who he fights (have you got a link so i can read this)? Who did Pavlik WANT to fight?

And if that's the case.. it says EVERYTHING about the confidence his promotional team have in him. Since beating Taylor he has been linked with - Duddy, Lockett, Griffin, welterweight Williams, ancient Trinidad etc.. as I said previously, if he is CAREFULLY managed he may stay at the top for a while.

Abraham, Kessler and Bute are all, like Pavlik, young hungry guys in their PRIME. They are arguably far more dangerous opponents than 43 year-old no-legs Hopkins. And maybe even more dangerous than 37 year-old no-hands Calzaghe. BUT they don't offer the same MONEY rewards for the risk involved.

Fighters fight for MONEY! Pavlik is no different.

After Pavlik and Taylor's first fight, the public definitely wanted to see them fight a second time, regardless of a rematch clause.

In regards to a link. I read it on ESPN and it's no longer available to be viewed. (Trust me, I checked) It was back when the fight was first announced and Pavlik says something along the lines of "Hopkins isn't exactly the fight I want, but if they say you're fighting him, you gotta fight him." Pavlik didn't directly state who he wanted but it was obvious he didn't want Hopkins.

If Kessler and Abraham eventually become bigger in the US there's no doubt Pavlik would be fighting them. But as of right now, Hopkins and Calzaghe are the names which is why he is matched up with those two.

So you took that as Pavlik having no control over his career path?

I heard Pavlik say he's NOT interested in fighting outside the States (it was after a fight, probably Lockett) that rules out going to Denmark for Kessler, Germany for Abraham, Britain for Calzaghe.. if he REALLY WANTED only the best challenges how come he's not willing to travel?

You can't blame him for wanting to stay in the States because there's more money if the fight is there now he's a PPV attraction. HBO won't want him to fight abroad because they want him to keep winning, he's a white American and a potential goldmine. But if there was no money difference I don't see him being any different to European fighters as far as travelling abroad goes. I think he'd stay at home and make easier money rather than travel abroad for a massive fight.

But Calzaghe and Pavlik will fight. They can't stop talking about each other they love each other so much. It's worse than Pavlik and Demise. They're worth a lot of money to each other so the love is going to continue. Joe and Demise, not much money at all, so Violent's love for Joe is going to stay unrequited.