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 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.
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.
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.
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