A Fight Everyone Deserves: Pavlik-Williams Inches Closer to Reality

While it may always take a big name like an Oscar De La Hoya or a Manny Pacquiao to connect boxing with the mainstream public, there are always fighters who are just as important to the sport despite not having as much name recognition. In recent years both Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams have played their part in keeping the boxing landscape relevant and interestingly enough the two young champions now seemed destined for a collision course as rumors have been leaking that the two will square off on October 3rd in Atlantic City.
In Pavlik we had a come forward bruiser whose lack of athleticism and speed has been made up for with sheer grit, heart, and most importantly, power. Pavlik had a great run in 2007 when he delivered three dramatic and breathtaking knockouts in successive bouts against Jose Luis Zertuche, Edison Miranda, and Jermain Taylor. The Taylor bout has thus far served as the highlight of Pavlik’s career, as he overcame a second round knockdown to eventually turn the tide of the fight before stopping the Arkansas native with a volley of punches in the seventh round.

That bout with Taylor showed all of Pavlik’s great qualities as a fighter but over the past few years the ride hasn’t been nearly as memorable or thrilling for the Youngstown fighter. He would decision Taylor in a rematch in early 2008 and follow it up with a summer blowout over Gary Lockett, setting up very big showdown with still serviceable Bernard Hopkins. While nobody would question Hopkins’ pedigree heading into the Pavlik bout, very few could have imagined just how easily he would go on to dominate his younger foe.

Using his overall ring savvy, footwork, and a plethora of angles, Hopkins was two steps ahead of Pavlik the entire contest and controlled every round in one of his cleaner wins in recent years. Despite rumors of his illness and a possible arm injury there was no denying that this was a hard loss for Pavlik to take in and in the contest his limitations as a fighter were on full display. A clear cut victory over Marco Antonio Rubio this past February was less than compelling and Pavlik now stands with his back against the wall in serious need of a big win.
His next opponent, Paul Williams, will certainly provide him of that desired opportunity. There is no denying the natural ability that Williams’ possesses, as he comes across as somewhat of a stubborn schoolyard kid who ends up skipping class while still finding a way to make the grade. Despite showing serious defensive lapses in nearly all of his fights, Williams makes up for it off of his abundance of energy, non-stop punching, stout chin, and overall willingness to not hold back and lay everything on the line.

In recent years Williams has migrated between 147 and 160 pounds and racked up impressive victories against the likes of Sharmba Mitchell, Antonio Margarito, and Winky Wright, amongst others. The only blemish on his ledger was a February 2008 decision loss to Carlos Quintana in which Williams’ was outworked by his Puerto Rican foe. Williams would get his revenge less that four months later, however, as he started much faster the second time around and blitzed Quintana in under one stanza.

When Williams’ initially made mention of moving up in weight to 160 pounds he was questioned by some and even laughed at by others. Surprisingly though, Williams has filled out quite nicely two divisions north and his results at Middleweight have been promising as he iced Andy Kolle in under one round and showed a great variety to his attack in outclassing the always formidable Wright. But in Pavlik he will be tangling with a much more serious threat, a man equally as young and just as dangerous to due to the mull like power in his fists.
This is a matchup of two fighters whose careers have been going in separate directions over the past year. While Pavlik is looking to restore the credibility that he lost against Hopkins, Williams himself is riding an all time high and simply looking to enjoy the ride and keep the momentum going. Both men have been blessed with different gifts as fighters and it looks like this one will come down to Williams’ activity against Pavlik’s sheer punching force. Two questions that instantly rise to the surface are whether or not Pavlik can get himself into a position to land some meaningful punches, and if he does just how well Williams ends up taking those shots. Either way you cut it this fight is certainly most intriguing and it is also a bout that everyone, including the fighters themselves, deserves to see happen.

The Boxing Nation Speaks Out on Williams-Pavlik

The possibility of Pavlik and Williams hooking up has created quite a stir amongst hardcore boxing fans online and its obvious that there will be much more than just the WBC and WBO Middleweight belts on the line. Wanting to get a feel for what the boxing public has been saying about the showdown, 8 Count News visited a few choice forums online and found out that many seem to be favoring Williams heavily in this one. In their own words, this is what people are saying…


(Explosivo @ FightBeat.com)…
“Man, what a great matchup. No way does this fight disappoint any boxing fan. Two tall, long armed guys who throw punches and love inside fighting.”

(2lefts @ BoxingBB.com)…
“I still think Pavlik has the upper hand in this fight. Williams is no Hopkins. He is hittable and hurt able. Margarito had him stumbling around in their fight, he just waited too late to attempt anything. B-hop forced Pavlik to work his way in and Williams likes to come forward much more. Remember, the one thing that Pavlik does very good (that AM does not) other than a straight right is a jab. He out jabbed Taylor. His jab is strong and the right is even stronger. I predict he drops Williams fairly early or at least wobbles him inside of 4, unless PW puts on skates and backs up all night. That close to Pavlik's home will result in a decision loss for Williams. Williams likes to punch more than simple counters. It's his strength AND his weakness, depending on the opponent. Don't expect PW to be strong enough to hurt KP at 160 either. I may end up eating humble pie but I'll accept that.”

(Cruzan Mario @ BoxingScene.com)…
“This is the single most important fight this year in boxing! When Punisher is champ there will be no avoiding him at 160, so no more worries!!!”

(KaukipRrr @ FightBeat.com)…
“The spider will win this IF he moves around. If he doesn't, Pavlik's extended right hand can devastate any middleweight, and he will hurt Paul if he lands it often enough, can the Spider hurt Pavlik? If he can, maybe it'll be easier done than said.”

(DragonWolverine @ Youtube.com)…
“Paul Williams is just a class too high for Kelly Pavlik especially after the Bernard Hopkins fightwhere he was exposed. Damn there goes another great white hope where i put my faith and thrust in.”

(Tete Dur @ BoxingBB.com)…
“I'm not going to completely right off Pavlik, I LOVE Williams and he's one of my favorite fighters but he still takes some leather and while I think he has a pretty solid chin I'm not ready to say for certain that he can take a punch from Pavlik, the real question is though can Pavlik land on Williams consistently enough to hurt Williams and take him out of his game plan and KO him, Williams definitely has the ability and skills to outbox Pavlik but I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Williams can stay away enough, I'd give Williams the edge now because he is fighting at such a very high level whereas Pavlik seems to be still recovering from the loss to Hopkins but I think Pavlik has a good chance of putting Williams to sleep with one of those right hands when Williams leans over on the inside like he does at times”

(Cadillac Man @ BoxingScene.com)…
“Bottom line this fight is gonna be fireworks and is gonna answer a lot of questions about both guys, CAN'T WAIT!”

(RudyPoop @ FightBeat.com)…
“I think Williams would do a little better then some think, but in the end I just don't think he would be able to handle Pavlik's power. This is a VERY pointless fight though, if Williams is having a hard time making weight why wouldn't he just move up to junior middleweight? It's a very open division for him to step up and challenge for a title immediately. I think Williams could have some decent success at Middleweight, but moving up two weight classes so fast and then challenging the top guy immediately would be a very poor decision by Williams and his handlers.”

(Dave Murphy @ BoxingBB.com)…
“I think his Promoter Bob Arum has shown no faith in him since the loss to Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins has beat a lot of people, there's no shame in that, but the real damage is spending the last 10 months sitting around and only fighting one questionable fight. He should've gone back to the drawing board, how's he supposed to learn from the loss sitting around?”

(Hex-One @ FightBeat.com)…
“We are going to find out how good a chin Williams has. I got Pavlik via stoppage late. Williams is very hittable.”

(Iceta @ BoxingScene.com)…
“Williams was getting on my nerves for a while there for taking so long to sign the contract and holding out for every last dollar he could get out of it. But I can't be mad at him about it now, because it's obvious he didn't blow this opportunity and he deserves his slice of the pie in this fight. I just would've been very disgruntled if this fight fell apart and I would not have put the blame on Pavlik.”

(WillinYC @ BoxingBB.com)…
“Williams by UD in which Pavlik won't win a round on any card unless Williams gets really stupid. I'm shocked so many are picking Pavlik for this one especially considering the plodding Pavlik had not one single answer for dealing with the subtle lateral movement from a 40+ year old Bhop. Williams will move all night long, get off first, all night long, catch Pavlik with tail end punches as he's moving away, all night long, and cruise to a drama free victory over the limited Pavlik. If Williams is dumb enough to stand in the center of the ring and trade with Pavlik (which I've got to assume that everyone that's picking Pavlik is assuming will happen with regularity) I'm not seeing this happening until late in the fight and I'm not seeing this as being the geography under which most of the duration of this fight being fought. This one won't be close enough to warrant a rematch. Without question, Arum's protecting Pavlik, has been bad news for fans. Throwing him in with Williams is probably the worst move he could possibly make and will leave Pavlik looking even more one dimensional than he did vs. Bhop.”

(Double L @ FightBeat.com)…
“I think the outcome of this fight hinges entirely on how Pavlik handles Williams when he holds him inside. Williams is a good fighter inside, but as we saw against Margarito, he does switch his style and box more against hard-punching and strong opposition. This is what I expect he will try to do against Pavlik. And so if Pavlik (and the referee) allow Williams to hold on the inside and the fight is fought strictly on the outside, I expect Pavlik to lose most of the rounds and be able to win only if he can land to the body throughout the fight and then catch a tiring Williams towards the end of the fight like he did against Taylor (and like Margarito managed to come on strong against Williams in the second half of the fight). If Williams obliges Pavlik on the inside, I think Pavlik will knock him out, probably in the middle rounds.”

(KINGLOUIE3 @ BoxingBB.com)…
“This is a very tough fight for either guy. First off anyone who thinks that KP wouldn't have done the same thing to Lil' Earmuffs himself (Winky Wright) that PW did or much worse is crazy. KP would have been the first guy to stop the ancient (looked very old) WW was rusty as hell and just like DLH doesn't seem to be able to pull the trigger anymore. PW isn't as good as he looked vs. WW, and KP isn't as bad as he looked vs. Hopkins. Either way, this fight is close to a 50/50 fight.”

(FaustoGeraci @ BoxingScene.com)…
“Williams is the one with the guaranteed date, not Pavlik. HBO wouldn't of put up shit for any other Pavlik fight. Paul is going to mop the floor with Pavlik, and will be a huge star with tons of fans after that. Keep hating, it's sad.”

(Colombian Slugger @ BoxingBB.com)…
“I am not giving up on Pavlik just yet but even in his fight against an overmatched Rubio he didn't impress. I think the loss against Hops did affect him because to me he doesn't look like the same destroyer type Pavlik. The same thing happened to Cotto after losing to the Plastered one. I think Pavlik loses to PW because he won't be busy enough and if he is not careful he could get KO'd. But Pavlik has a puncher's chance and if he is not afraid of throwing them and they land flush he can hurt PW. That's why this fight needs to happen.”

(Adamiw @ FightBeat.com)…
“Williams's big advantage in this fight, is his speed...he'll mix it up for sure, as he should, but he doesn't want to spend too long inside. Pavlik is by far the strongest fighter Williams has ever fought. Interested to see how Williams' power carries up....if he can get Pavlik's respect with his own power, then his chances improve by a great deal...Pavlik is gonna get hit a lot in this fight, and if he is to overpower Tall Paul, then he can't get hurt as he imposes himself. Another key is angles.....Williams is always moving, offering himself angles to attack from.....Hopkins used his angles very effectively when schooling Pavlik”

(Grustler @ BoxingScene.com)…
“Paul Williams has a very good resistance to punches. Could be a chance that Paul absorbs Kelly Pavlik punches and puts it on him. I think people are over hyping Kelly Pavlik's power. All Paul has to do is box Pavlik and he beats him easy. You see
how Paul fought Margarito? He stayed busy and away from getting hit flush and when he did he weathered it & stayed on his game. I can see Williams using the same strategy but more seasoned considering that Pavlik is a better fighter than Margarito but he's still one dimensional and that's how Bhop was able to be him by turning him and creating angles. That blue print right there will work for Paul now.”

(Johnny Gaetano @ BoxingBB.com)…
“I think Pavlik is too big and strong for Williams. At the elite level, I think 160 is a stretch for PW. Every fighter has his limitations as to how high he can go in weight. I actually think Williams is a better fighter than Pavlik, but wouldn’t be able to handle the strength and power at 160.”

(*Z* @ FightBeat.com)…
“Williams is always there to be hit, He fights nothing like the Hopkins that schooled Pavlik. Margarito who is as slow or slower than Pavlik was able to hit Paul with some big shots. Can Williams take a shot like that from Pavlik?”

(CrazyNacho25 @ Youtube.com)…
“I don't think Pav has deceptive power because everyone knows he can punch, this fight is interesting because we'll see if Paul will be able too take a shot from a big strong hard hitting Middle weight, I agree that Pav won't win by decision if he wins it will probably be by knockout, Paul is no defensive wizard, Mayhtese, Margarito, Quintana, Verno, and Winky were all able to hit Paul pretty easily, I say Paul by dec but I wouldn't be shocked if he gets kayoed”

(Mitchell Kane @ FightBeat.com)…
“Yeah, I don't think too much needs to be made of Williams' angles. They, like a real, purposeful jab, or head movement, tend to be more for show it seems. On the occasion or two during a round when he remembers to do it, he'll mix it in there. Williams is a volume puncher, he leaves openings and will be there to be hit. But he's gonna throw and land a lot regardless, and the one thing Margarito was willing to do was wade through a lot of that. Pavlik has to as well, although Williams in 2009, at 160, will be stronger and more filled out than the welterweight version Margarito fought.”


Questions and Comments can be sent to Chris Robinson at Trimond@aol.com or www.Myspace.com/BoxingHarmony