Pavlik vs Espino Set For December 19, Top Rank PPV

[Myk_Myk]

I'm not sure you understood the point I was making about Clottey. Williams offered to fight Clottey at 154 (not 160) after the Pavlik fight fell through. Clottey didn't accept the fight at 154. Clearly, Williams could have been able to make 154 if he offered to fight Clottey at 154 during the same time period. Yet, Williams wouldn't fight Martinez at 154? You pointed out the reason in your post - because it is to Paul's advantage to fight Martinez at 160 rather than 154.

No I understood perfectly. My point is it would have been pointless to offer Clottey a fight at 160; which is evidenced by the fact that he didn't even take the fight at 154. I'm sure Williams could have come down to 154 to fight either man. And I'm sure the Williams camp felt more comfortable about coming down to 154 for Clottey (who would have had to come up even then) than for the rangier framed Martinez; who has been at 154, as you said, since 200. The fact that Martinez did agree to come up to 160, proves that the Williams camp knows how play their cards, and my whole point is that he shouldn't be disparaged for doing so, excepting all the BS from his camp we've already discussed.

As for Pavlik it certainly does look bad, but then again on the surface of it, he had to fight to keep his belts. That article Diane posted makes it sound like they're still waiting for his hand to heal and even his camp looks to be unsure about his state. We'll just have to see what happens after this fight. If he and Williams both win, there should be no more excuses.

[TigerFan]

If Pavlik wasn't gonna be 100% for a Dec 5th fight with Williams then I'm happy it got scrapped. Win, lose or draw I want no excuses. I'm assuming when he steps in the ring on Dec 19 he'll be at about 70% to 80% which is more than enough to beat Espino but not Williams. He needs to get healthy first. I have no doubts if they win their next match they'll be sharing a ring come March/April.

On a side note, as a Pavlik fan I didn't like the idea of him having just one fight after the Hopkins debacle then jumping back into another super fight. Especially with that one fight coming way back in February. He needed 2-3 fights to get his confidence back IMO.

[jon09]

Damn BHop took Pavliks heart and mind because at 1 point he was taking on all comers from Taylor twice and Miranda, when he was considered dangerous and stepped up to fight the Executioner. Now he is taking on pretenders in what could be considered an even worst title reign then Taylor's. I hope he gets himself together before its too late because he is still young and talented.