Dan Rafael blog: Serious talks underway for Pavlik-Williams and other tid bits

[LEGION]

Great fight; needs to happen badly.

Pavlik one of my faves, won't lie, but he's in deep water with this kid. This fight will get ugly at times; I don't know who to pick.

Both throw alot of punches; Williams a better all around boxer but not sure at 160 he'll have the power to trouble Pavlik, which in th deep rounds could haunt him. If he does ko Kelly he really is a phenom; to have the genetics to do what he's doing.

I'm not sayin Pavlik is some MW messiah but he's no bum, like him or not. He's one dimensional; predictable, but he comes to fight and he's still, imo, one of the top 3 finishers in the sport; he hurts you you're in trouble. Pavlik should try to go for the body on Paul; but he'll have trouble catching Paul. I just don't know on this one. i'll take Pavlik just cause he's unbeaten at MW and he's the man to beat there. PW pulls this off he earned it.

[kingfrnk]

i think Paul takes this now. he wont stop Pavlik but he will win a decision.

[ClubberLang]

Regarding Williams punching power...after his loss to Quintana, for whatever reason, Williams started punching with much greater authority. I don't know if he just started sitting down on his punches better or if fighting at the higher weights gives him a little extra oomph, but there is a very telling difference. But whatever the case, while he still does not have one punch power, he really put a beating on both Winky and Phillips. I mean, those guys really got beat up by Paul. I don't see a KO for Williams but I think Pavlik will have to be prepared to take a beating if he wants to get close enough to Williams to eventaully put him away. I can't see Pavlik winning a decision. Williams is simply too busy to lose on the cards. He's going to have to walk through the propeller and try to wear Williams down and put him away in the late rounds. Williams' stamina and chin are so good though I just don't see it happening.

[LEGION]

Regarding Williams punching power...after his loss to Quintana, for whatever reason, Williams started punching with much greater authority. I don't know if he just started sitting down on his punches better or if fighting at the higher weights gives him a little extra oomph, but there is a very telling difference. But whatever the case, while he still does not have one punch power, he really put a beating on both Winky and Phillips. I mean, those guys really got beat up by Paul. I don't see a KO for Williams but I think Pavlik will have to be prepared to take a beating if he wants to get close enough to Williams to eventaully put him away. I can't see Pavlik winning a decision. Williams is simply too busy to lose on the cards. He's going to have to walk through the propeller and try to wear Williams down and put him away in the late rounds. Williams' stamina and chin are so good though I just don't see it happening.

That's the question; will the added weight show a better punch on Williams. He's shown he can punch anyways and I'm betting he will have some power up there. Which like you said will make it tough on Kelly. If the power is there I can see him ko'ing Pavlik; PW is a finisher as well. I can see it going the other way as well; Pavlik has great killer instincts and can finish quickly.

Like I said he's going to have to work hard to catch up to PW{I don't see PW wanting to trade inside or on the ropes, so he'll stay on his back foot}and Kelly needs to find a way to slow him down, i.e. body shots early but easier said than done from Pavlik who isn't fast on his feet and could end up getting tagged alot trying to play catch up to PW. PW will be similar to JT in the second Pavlik fight; though with endless stamina and throwing more. Pavlik has to get to the body imo or he will lose a decision at best. Should be interesting t see if PW does have that crazy stamina agaist a guy who is a big MW and will keep him busy all night.

Great fight; I am pumped hoping this one goes off. If Pavlik loses and depending in what fashion this could set up a nice little rivalry; or Kelly will go to AA

[C-Lo]

This would be a good one!

I think Williams' workrate and angles will bother Pavlik but he will feel it everytime he gets hit. I gotta go with my boy Kelly on this one.

[CFH]

I'm a huge Willams fan and I despise Pavlik, but I think the Ghost takes this one. Williams is going to get hit, he always does, and Pavlik for all his shortcomings has a ton of power. Should be a great fight though, with both men's styles and workrates I could see it being FOTY material.

Pavlik by stoppage in a fight he is behind on the cards.

[Diane]

Sorry, but honestly, I don't know why they are even negotiating fights for Pavlik right now, when they are still legally tied to Mora.

Sergio is not going away on this one. He wants this fight bad, and Sergio is one of those guys where his pride means more to him than money. I mean he offered Forrest a "winner take all" fight for a rubber match, because he hated the way he lost, and restoring his pride meant more to him than the money, so he was willing to put his money where his mouth was. Forrest wasn't.

He will not go away quietly on this.

[ClubberLang]

Sorry, but honestly, I don't know why they are even negotiating fights for Pavlik right now, when they are still legally tied to Mora.

Sergio is not going away on this one. He wants this fight bad, and Sergio is one of those guys where his pride means more to him than money. I mean he offered Forrest a "winner take all" fight for a rubber match, because he hated the way he lost, and restoring his pride meant more to him than the money, so he was willing to put his money where his mouth was. Forrest wasn't.

He will not go away quietly on this.

They will find away to get out of that fight. It's not even 100% clear from what I've read that it's legally binding. It's an awful fight anyway and might fail to eclipse even 100,000 buys as a pay per view.

[Spicoli]

Sorry, but honestly, I don't know why they are even negotiating fights for Pavlik right now, when they are still legally tied to Mora.

Sergio is not going away on this one. He wants this fight bad, and Sergio is one of those guys where his pride means more to him than money. I mean he offered Forrest a "winner take all" fight for a rubber match, because he hated the way he lost, and restoring his pride meant more to him than the money, so he was willing to put his money where his mouth was. Forrest wasn't.

He will not go away quietly on this.

The viewers might though ........jk . If they do have a agreed contract it will have to be sorted out.I can see Mora giving Pavlik fits but think it would boil down to fire power and durability,favoring Pavlik.

[JazMerkin]

Sorry, but honestly, I don't know why they are even negotiating fights for Pavlik right now, when they are still legally tied to Mora.

Sergio is not going away on this one. He wants this fight bad, and Sergio is one of those guys where his pride means more to him than money. I mean he offered Forrest a "winner take all" fight for a rubber match, because he hated the way he lost, and restoring his pride meant more to him than the money, so he was willing to put his money where his mouth was. Forrest wasn't.

He will not go away quietly on this.

Well that's probably because Forrest doesn't want to even risk not getting paid, which I can't blame him for. Mora can afford to lose to Forrest again, Forrest can't. The guy would be considered one of the best of the decade if he hadn't lost to 2 quite frankly b or c level fighters. That's no disrespect to them, but Forrest should've been getting himself into contention with the likes of Oscar. But I agree Pavlik should honour the contract even though I would much rather see Williams beat him, the fact is you don't sign a contract then not fulfill it.

[Rantcatrat]

I'm a huge Willams fan and I despise Pavlik, but I think the Ghost takes this one. Williams is going to get hit, he always does, and Pavlik for all his shortcomings has a ton of power. Should be a great fight though, with both men's styles and workrates I could see it being FOTY material.

Pavlik by stoppage in a fight he is behind on the cards.

Why do you despise Pavlik or do you mean you just despise his style?

Williams on the cards. With his workrate, Williams is like a smaller, less-finetuned Calzaghe. The questions are: can Kelly time Pwill's flurries and can Pwill handle a KP right hand?

[CFH]

I'm a huge Willams fan and I despise Pavlik, but I think the Ghost takes this one. Williams is going to get hit, he always does, and Pavlik for all his shortcomings has a ton of power. Should be a great fight though, with both men's styles and workrates I could see it being FOTY material.

Pavlik by stoppage in a fight he is behind on the cards.

Why do you despise Pavlik or do you mean you just despise his style?

Williams on the cards. With his workrate, Williams is like a smaller, less-finetuned Calzaghe. The questions are: can Kelly time Pwill's flurries and can Pwill handle a KP right hand?

Pavlik has an awesome style and I really should be a fan of his, and I was a fan of his until recently. However, I loathe Jack Loew, that fat fuck runs his mouth like he's the one doing the fighting, talking shit about other fighters etc. and generally acting like a douche. I also dislike Pavlik because of his bullshit "everyman persona", that's as bit as phony as Hatton's (if not more so).

I really should like him, but I just don't.

[Spicoli]

Really dont see any other direction for Pavlik.Hes not going to 168 and otherwise would spend his time with mandatorys and Sergio Mora.I'd say this one def comes off.

Last year I saw convinced Pavlik would be too much.Too big,too straight.But Williams volume and hand speed with using his height could really give Pavlik problems.Williams really needs to stay smart,not come in with those wide punches and not hang his reachable chin out there.If he falls in and gives up his height,he could pay for it in a bad way.Pavlik may have one single gear but can crack right down the middle,time Williams in between flurries.

[ClubberLang]

Really dont see any other direction for Pavlik.Hes not going to 168 and otherwise would spend his time with mandatorys and Sergio Mora.I'd say this one def comes off.

That's my feeling as well. Sturm is the only even marginally interesting fight for him at 160 (and I stress "marginally"). There is not anyone interesting at 154 who could move up (there has been talk of Martinez but that does nothing for me). He could move up to 168, but the super-tournament takes away all of the lucrative options there for the foreseeable future. Williams is really the only interesting fight for him right now. It has to come off.

[The Fightfan]

Kelly will be too strong for Williams and especially at middleweight. People think about Williams' output but Kelly himself like I've said in the past throw's upward of 100 punches a round as well. Williams is no defensive wizard like Hopkins meaning his punching is his defense. I think Kelly can take it and he will dish it. Kelly by KO.