And It Really Wasn’t That Close…
February 23, 2009Are the Browns in the Wrong for Lack of Information?
February 23, 2009If there was any debate on what sort of boxer Kelly Pavlik is since he fought up a weight class a few months back, I believe it is safe to say that the critics are considerably more quiet this week after Pavlik moved his record to 35-1 with a ninth round TKO of Marco Antonio Rubio (43-5-1).
Sure, the fight lasted a little longer than most pundits anticipated. However, most fans remembered Pavlik as the slower version who could not stop hugging Bernard Hopkins while being completely over matched. A totally different Pavlik performed this past weekend in front of more than 7,000 fans in his home town of Youngstown, Ohio. He sported a large “Y on his trunks and looked like a man on a mission to regain the momentum which he had held for the last several years. He came out swinging, placing Rubio against the ropes on more than one occasion and looked like it was going to be a quick night. Even with Rubio in the defensive for most of the evening, Pavlik was finding ways to make contact that lead to his opponent not answering the bell after the ninth round.
Not being a WBC expert, I was a bit shocked to see that Rubio was only two years older than Pavlik at 28 years of age. Had he actually been as old as he looked, it would not have been as surprising to see that Kelly Pavlik threw an exponentially higher amount of punches than his opponent. I give Rubio a lot of credit for lasting as long as he did given how things started. In the end, while I would have loved to have seen a knockout, Kelly Pavlik had an entire arena on their feet in his praise. He proclaimed his appreciation for the fans who had paid a considerable amount of money to see their hometown hero during a time that we can all agree is not flooded with discretionary income.
Many feel that Pavlik’s next opponent will be John Duddy, who won his match earlier in the same evening via unanimous decision. No word on if he will be fighting in Ohio any time soon, but you can bet that plenty of Cleveland eyes will be watching wherever it may be.
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(AP Photo/David Richard)
6 Comments
What a great time to be a Northeast Ohioan. The Cavs are playing amazing basketball, and look to make a strong run for the championship. The Indians look to contend for the division title, and possible run deep into the playoffs. Kelly Pavlik is making (has made) a great name for himself in the boxing world, and shows no signs of slowing down. The Browns…..well crap, I was on a roll there….
Pavlik looked ponderous, one dimensional
and like better boxers than Rubio could and
should beat him… He didn’t look that good, and
Rubio was awful… to not look better against Rubio
is a shame, but I believe it may be he isn’t as good as
a lot of people claim… Froch beats him, Kessler beats him
and Calzaghe would’ve given him kittens, Abraham may beat him…
Duddy won’t tho’ because he is made to fail against Pavlik, he stands and trades… Hopkins fooled with him, and made him look very poor… very, very poor !
I’m not sure how you can call someone who threw 700 punches in 9 rounds ponderous. Kelly by nature isn’t the most exciting boxer to watch because he systematically picks apart his opponents. From your post I’m guessing the only Pavlik fights you saw were Hopkins and this one. That’s not really a good sample size. When a guy fights defensively and throws one punch to every 6 he takes he’s going to last long but not win the fight. Kelly won the fight because he stuck to his strategy and he connected with some massive body shots that slowed Rubio down through the laster rounds of the fight. It was obvious that Kelly had way more power and speed, but Rubio fought like the veteran he was and never attacked, which would have opened him up for more punishment. Pavlik will run over Duddy like he humiliated Lockett. The fight Pavlik needs to have is Abraham and then Strum to unify the title. Abraham has never fought anyone with Kelly’s punching power and in my opinion he lost to Miranda in the fight where he broke his jaw, but the judges stole the fight from Miranda. It would definitely be a contender for fight of the year, Top Rank just needs to make it happen.
no I have seen more than the two fights you’ve mentioned… You tube is a wonderful thing …. I thought he was slow in the re-match with Taylor… I know he arrived in Las Vegas for that fight at the wrong time to acclimatise and his jab was very poor that night… sure he beat Taylor, but Taylor is looking a bit shot and who can take that away from Taylor… he’s had a hard carrer… Sure he threw 700 punches against a fighter (Rubio) who maybe threw 40 the whole fight, if that …. That’s not hard to throw that many punches against a virtual punch-bag… Rubio never tried to tie up or nulify Pavlik’s attack, which a better boxer would be able to do, so the 700 punches doesn’t look like much when you analyse it… it is 25 punches a minute over 9 rounds against someone who tucked up and took every punch…. And saying someone fought like the veteran they were and never attacked is whack… I mean, he NEVER attacked really over nine rounds…. that is a bit strange, and it didn’t seem like that was his game-plan, or his corner didn’t make it sound like it was…. You are right he is certainly not an exciting fighter to watch ….
I think Pavlik’s greatest sin was not pressing his advantage. He clearly had Rubio on the ropes more than a few times but never really put him away for the KO. As far as the gameplan of Pavlik and Jack Loew, it was executed to perfection. Those body shots were savage and his counters were lethal. It makes you think it at least would’ve been an entertaining fight in October if Pavlik hadn’t had that elbow bursitis and, more importantly, bronchitis.
Pavlik adapted to what Rubio was doing, which was blocking everything and not throwing punches. It reminded me a little of the Taylor/Spinks fight where Spinks was just running around the ring trying not to get caught with anything from Taylor. When Pavlik fights Duddy then Abraham who are obviously offensive fighters and sluggers his true boxing talents and power will show through. Let’s not forget Gary Lockett had only one loss in 31 professional fights before the Kelly fight and had never been knocked down before. Pavlik never makes it look pretty, but he’s got more power behind his punches than anyone in the middleweight division. If I were to compare him to another athlete the first person that comes to mind is Chase Utley. The guy is so small, but he’s got such quick hands and wrists and generates so much compact power that he hits the ball a ton.