Pavlik & Williams agree to terms, will fight on October 3rd

[Snakefist Ar Fu]

ha, I was just about to post this.

I like it. A lot actually.

I might favor Williams, but I think people are probably underrating Pav after the Hopkins fight.

If Pavlik had a hard time with Hopkin's volume, what chance does he stand against Williams. I may be underestimating Pavlik and I hope so for the sake of an interesting fight, but Williams should look really good against anyone that doesn't have amazing footwork...............

I don't think it was Hopkins volume, he didn't really throw that much if I remember correctly (well for him he did but not compared to many guys), its just Hopkins, nobody looks good against him, granted Pav looked worse than most but that's not really shocking, Pavlik is everything Hopkins could ever want stylistically, a guy that's slow of hand and foot and needs to be set to punch is always gonna have problems with Hopkins movement and Hopkins is probably still the best in boxing at taking away a fighters jab and if you watch Pavlik everything he does revolves around the jab, everything starts with it, the jab-right hand is his meal ticket. Take it away, make him hesitant to throw it and he's SOL. Really I picked Hopkins to win at the time but looking back I'm surprised I had any doubt, Pav was perfect for him.

Williams will bring a lot more volume but he'll be a much bigger target for Kelly, he's just not as slick as Bernard. He does move pretty well too which will trouble Kelly I think. That and Paul's volume could keep Pav on the defensive. So I'll probably pick Paul but Pav has chances here that weren't there against Hopkins, he'll land more right hands.

All I can say is its about time someone gave Paul Williams a chance.
A boxer who beat Antonio Margarito (UD) and the only fighter he hes lost to he knocked out in the next fight. Forget Sergio Mora with only 5 knock outs in 21 fights.
Just off subject I think its a shame Kelly was not in the super 6. Could have replaced him with J. Talor. I like Taylor as a boxer but Kelly beat him twice and I dont think he has a chance of winning.

[Rantcatrat]

I know it's an obvious statement but I think it all hinges on KP's prepearation and whether he gives it 100%, after dome of the recent stories we've been hearing it would appear he needs to re focus. Hopefully all just gossip.

I completely agree. Even if there is only a little bit of truth in the recent stories, one thing is for certain is that Pavlik has not been as focused as he appeared on his way up the ladder. Boxing is a game that has everything to do with focus and preparation. Without, you are as good as knocked out.

I hope Pavlik has his life away from boxing in order coming into this fight also... It was sad reading that he went on a bit of a downer after the Hopkins fight... It really was a destroying fight for Pavlik, and not just for the 12 rounds, but you could see his heart was broken after that fight... A bit like Hatton in the interviews after his Pac KO, those sort of beatings make you go off and think about your whole life.... What you thought was one thing you're whole career is suddenly totally gone...
I hope Pavlik is getting his shit back in alignment and comes back as big and as strong as he was before Hopkins... He's a good dimension for boxing, a real likeable guy, and it would at least be great to see him do good in this fight even if Williams is to much.. Williams is exciting in his own right so providing Pavlik shows up with his shit together it'll be a great fight whoever wins..

I don't think the Hopkins fight had as big of an effect on Pavlik as you are making it out. His win over Rubio was vintage KP. Pavlik looked better than Cotto did in his first fight back from the devastating loss to Margacheato.

I give Pavlik a punchers chance, but even his Legendary concussive right has been showed to be a bit overrated.

Kelly Absolutely has to set his feet before he throws, if you look at any Pavlik fight thats apparent, if he dosent have a chance to set his feet then he pushes his punches and looks terribly awkward...

Williams has great Rythm, footwork and volume.. I can see him stopping Pavlik quite easily 9-10. Kelly is a basic 1-2 fighter who tries to apply pressure, he dosent have plan B and as long as that cocky bastard Loew trains him he will never get any better since they are all under the assumption that his opponents are going to stand in front of Kelly and allow him to punch a whole through them.

Williams volume and agression is scary, he will punch kelly anywhere and every were, he can fight long he can fight short on the inside, when tied up he does that crazy shit where he uppercuts across his body with his free hand that looks 10ft long. He will side step, turn and spin Pavlik around the whole fight..

There is no denying Pavlik is a one-two fighter. He may be the best one-two fighter out there, but that is what he is.

Williams moves a lot but it isn't in his feet - he moves his upper body and head and his defense leaves something to be desired. Margarito hurt Williams in the championship rounds and Margarito doesn't have anything near the power of a Pavlik right hand.

Another angle to look at is Williams punch output. I've said this quite a few times Williams does have a high punch output but Pavlik himself throws 100 punches a round. And with power behind it. Williams could throw more than 100 punches a round against welterweight's and against a frozen Winky Wright. I just want to see now if Williams can do it with someone who is just as tall as him, will be much bigger,and constantly pressuring him. Kelly is no defensive wizard nor a boxer. His game is pressure and honestly Margarito didn't even put much pressure on Williams until the very late stages of the fight and still landed with great effect on Williams. This will be a FOTY candidate without a doubt but it could end quickly with Kelly being the victor IMO.

Margarito also is slow and doesn't have any head movement and he doesn't have nearly the power of Pavlik.

I'm curious to see how hard Willliams punches. He may have KP beat if he can tame him with his volume AND power. However, Kelly has proven he has a chin. Williams can throw a ton of punches, but if Pavlik doesn't respect the power, he'll walk through them. Pavlik hits like a mule and Williams is open for that right hand.

After seeing his last fight, however, I must favor Pwill. He looked too good against Winky and that fight was at 160. He is like a poor man's Calzaghe in many ways, volume punching without the defense and not as fast. And personally, I think Calzaghe would have destroyed Pavlik.

One thing that hasn't been said is KP deserves credit for taking this fight. It is a risky one and he stepped up to fight the "most feared man in boxing" without much haggling. That has to be worthy of some praise. The guy fights Miranda when he is basically undefeated (robbed in the AA first fight imo) and had just come off a fight where he broke AA's jaw with a punch and knocks him out. He fights an undefeated Jermain Taylor and then beat him in the rematch. Then he fights Bernard Hopkins, an easy first-ballot HOF fighter. And now Pwill - the most feared boxer. I mean geez. Guy has balls.

[leftylee]

Williams wins on points. I don't think somebody as one-dimensional as Pavlik can handle him. Paul will be non-stop punching for 12 rounds.

[denilson200]

this is awesome news.

it's really hard to call this fight as you can't really pin which style PW will use.. He has the skills to outwork kelly and to move around the ring away from kelly's power, and if he keeps him at bay with his jab then he has a good chance at a wide UD.. but when have we really seen PW do this? he may be in over his head, but it will really be hard to tell until they're in the ring and we see how big the speed difference is, and how PW approaches kelly..

i say pavlik by KO.. not TKO, KO.

Are you crazy ? Pavlik has two chances SLIM and NONE.......and SLIM just left town !!!! I would go as far and predict that Williams will do a shut-out on Pavlik 120-108. You heard it hear first.

[holmcall]

I'm going--hopefully to see KP iced.

[kingfrnk]

i think this fight is 60-40 in favor for Paul. Pavlik is still the best fighter at 160 and hits hard as hell at that weight. Im picking Paul by UD but a Pavlik ko or tko wouldnt surprise me.

[generalbulldog]

This is my 2nd most anticipated fight along with Pac-Cotto. This is great for boxing fans where the fight could go either way.

[blegit]

I think this is a bad style matchup for PWill. One thing Pavlik does excellent is straight shoot. He is not smaller than Williams so he shouldn't get overwhelmed like PWill usually does fighters. With the size advantage gone Pavlik should have no problem trading with Williams and landing shots right down the middle.

[CFH]

I'm going--hopefully to see KP iced.

You have no idea how happy Williams laying out Pavlik would make me. It's not going to happen though, I am firmly convinced that Pavlik is going to stop Williams.

[terrorsid]

i like pavlik but i'm going with williams.... williams has an 82inch reach while pavlik has 75inches.... i think thats due to williams reach advantage and footspeed it will have pavlik more on the defensive i dont think pavlike will last the full 12.

[El Kabong]

Hasn't Pavlik had trouble making weight recently? I think PW is a freak, and I think he's going to KO Kelly.

[Wadeb_21]

I'm really on the fence about this fight I'm not sure who to pick I'm thinking Williams because hes a freak of nature and his volume of punches is crazy high.
But then I'm also thinking Kelly because if he is able to land some clean shots on Paul it might be night night time for him.
Great great matchup and cannot wait to see this. I agree this could be foty candidate.

[Rantcatrat]

Given the number of Pavlik-haters on this board, it is a little astonishing the number of people who actually predict Pavlik to win. Usually, it is "Pavlik is one dimensional," and "AA would destroy him," etc. I can see the appeal of Pavlik because he seems like one of the easier guys to like in the sport and consistently takes on the biggest challenges, but generally, this board's posters, at least the European and Canadian posters, put Pavlik down. Now they back him over Pwill? Really?

Is Pavlik's punching power and his size the best reasons people can come up with for why Pavlik will win? That can't be enough. In his last few fights, Pavlik's punches per round have decreased and Pwill's have increased. Pwill has a considerable reach advantage and is coming off of his best win (over a future HOF in Winky Wright).

I am a Pavlik fan. He his humble. He fights any and all comers and he is almost always in exciting fights. What is there not to like? Here, however, he is in over his head. As he showed in his last fight, Pwill is more of a natural middleweight than junior middleweight or welterweight and like I said in a previous post, his punching barrages remind me of of a poor man's version of Calzaghe. Masters of volume punching are hard to beat - ask Bhop and RJJ.

[JT Rock]

Given the number of Pavlik-haters on this board, it is a little astonishing the number of people who actually predict Pavlik to win. Usually, it is "Pavlik is one dimensional," and "AA would destroy him," etc. I can see the appeal of Pavlik because he seems like one of the easier guys to like in the sport and consistently takes on the biggest challenges, but generally, this board's posters, at least the European and Canadian posters, put Pavlik down. Now they back him over Pwill? Really?

Is Pavlik's punching power and his size the best reasons people can come up with for why Pavlik will win? That can't be enough. In his last few fights, Pavlik's punches per round have decreased and Pwill's have increased. Pwill has a considerable reach advantage and is coming off of his best win (over a future HOF in Winky Wright).

I am a Pavlik fan. He his humble. He fights any and all comers and he is almost always in exciting fights. What is there not to like? Here, however, he is in over his head. As he showed in his last fight, Pwill is more of a natural middleweight than junior middleweight or welterweight and like I said in a previous post, his punching barrages remind me of of a poor man's version of Calzaghe. Masters of volume punching are hard to beat - ask Bhop and RJJ.

Not to be a dick but your wrong about Williams Footwork, its excellent along with his timing and rythm. He does move his upper body a lot too but all in all he is great movement.

You also picked apart my above post and tried to spin it toward kelly, just to end up posting Kelly is in over his head

Pavlik has looked less than spectacular for a while and he beat Miranda who was in his prime and Taylor who got outboxed and gifted against Cory Spinks and was troubled by Ouma. The writing was on the wall for Taylor he was there for the taking.

Just havent seen anything spectacular in a while from Kelly, he seems to be left behind while 168 is a hotbed and there is going to be a bit of a wait before Korobov, Jacobs, Lee, landa etc.are ready. Same for Williams I think 160 might be the ceiling for him so there are going to be a few fillers before those guys are ready to challenge.

Pavlik loses and goes to 168 imo

[Rantcatrat]

Given the number of Pavlik-haters on this board, it is a little astonishing the number of people who actually predict Pavlik to win. Usually, it is "Pavlik is one dimensional," and "AA would destroy him," etc. I can see the appeal of Pavlik because he seems like one of the easier guys to like in the sport and consistently takes on the biggest challenges, but generally, this board's posters, at least the European and Canadian posters, put Pavlik down. Now they back him over Pwill? Really?

Is Pavlik's punching power and his size the best reasons people can come up with for why Pavlik will win? That can't be enough. In his last few fights, Pavlik's punches per round have decreased and Pwill's have increased. Pwill has a considerable reach advantage and is coming off of his best win (over a future HOF in Winky Wright).

I am a Pavlik fan. He his humble. He fights any and all comers and he is almost always in exciting fights. What is there not to like? Here, however, he is in over his head. As he showed in his last fight, Pwill is more of a natural middleweight than junior middleweight or welterweight and like I said in a previous post, his punching barrages remind me of of a poor man's version of Calzaghe. Masters of volume punching are hard to beat - ask Bhop and RJJ.

Not to be a dick but your wrong about Williams Footwork, its excellent along with his timing and rythm. He does move his upper body a lot too but all in all he is great movement.

You also picked apart my above post and tried to spin it toward kelly, just to end up posting Kelly is in over his head

Pavlik has looked less than spectacular for a while and he beat Miranda who was in his prime and Taylor who got outboxed and gifted against Cory Spinks and was troubled by Ouma. The writing was on the wall for Taylor he was there for the taking.

Just havent seen anything spectacular in a while from Kelly, he seems to be left behind while 168 is a hotbed and there is going to be a bit of a wait before Korobov, Jacobs, Lee, landa etc.are ready. Same for Williams I think 160 might be the ceiling for him so there are going to be a few fillers before those guys are ready to challenge.

Pavlik loses and goes to 168 imo

Fair enough. But the reason I "took apart" your post is because although I admire KP because he takes all comers - he isn't dodging people because stylistically they may pose problems for him - I believe Pwill may be the real deal. I don't think that Pwill beat him is as much of a knock on KP as it is that Pwill is a solid boxer. Your angle, and correct me if I'm wrong, was more that Kelly is a weak champion rather than Pwill is very, very good.