By BoxingNewsWorld.blogspot.com
Pavlik – Williams fight is interesting.
Here you see a fighter who once tagged by many as the next superstar of boxing, probably due to America’s longing of another Mike Tyson or Oscar De La Hoya, only to lose to ring tactician Bernard Hopkins. Pavlik bounced back with a so-so win against mediocre Marco Antonio Rubio early of this year.
The other fighter is a highly, if not overly, regarded boxer who was ranked tenth pound-for-pound by the prestigious Ring Magazine before Floyd Mayweather Jr’s twelve-round destruction of Mexican counter-puncher Juan Manuel Marquez. The flamboyant Mayweather grabbed the number 2 spot just few days after the one-sided fight dislodging Williams out of the coveted mythical pound-for-pound rankings.
I asked some boxing experts from various boxing websites and newspapers who would win on December 5 and why. Here is what they had to say.
(Thank you all very much.)
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Vivek Wallace – East Side Boxing, Examiner, 8-CountNews
“Williams is a big guy, but he's never been hit like he'll be hit in this one. He has taken some middleweight shots, but this is the biggest one out there. Pavlik is coming off of some very uncertain times, with the rumors of alcohol treatment, and so forth. In Pavlik's return to the ring after the Hopkins debacle against Rubio, he was barely able to hold off his opponent who is nowhere near what Williams will be. Pavlik will have to prove that he can penetrate that punch rate, and Williams will have to prove that he can stay busy enough to keep away from a flush shot to the jaw. Once again, I can't really call one here because we just don't know what these two men will bring. If Pavlik is on his game - (the Pre-Hopkins Pavlik) - I like him to win, maybe even late stoppage. But, if he comes in unsure of himself and gets frustrated at the many shots he's taking and can't find a way to relax and penetrate those shots, he will undoubtedly continue a downward slide that may land him out of a career sooner than many think.
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Vivek Wallace is a huge boxing fan born and raised in Miami, Florida. An avid student of the game, Vivek spends a countless amount of hours in the still of the night breaking down fight footage which thoroughly accounts for his ability to lay out visual words from an unseen perspective. Vivek has done past work in the world of boxing for various new sources, to include the Moffat County Newspaper, Most Valuable Network, the Examiner, 8 Count News, and most recently Eastside Boxing. Vivek is also in the midst of a 3 year run covering the NBA's Miami Heat. Aside from sports journalism, Vivek is a former U.S. Marine, and a Father of two.
Jake Donovan – Boxing Scene
“(I’m) undecided for the moment. (I’m) tempted to pick Williams, but the greatest wild card is whether or not he can handle a middleweight punch, especially as big a hitter as Pavlik. If Williams can control the pace and distance, I expect a new Middleweight champion to be crowned. But that's a big IF. Fighting a puncher with the workrate (and talent) of Pavlik is hardly akin to facing a 37-year old version of Winky Wright who hadn't fought in 21 months.”
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Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
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Chris Parry – Vancouver Sun
“Williams is the most avoided fighter since Tyson. He's a long tall praying mantis of a fighter and this will be his biggest test to date - one that he'll step up to happily.”
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Charles White – East Side Boxing
“I can't wait for this fight! Tough one to call. Pavlik seems to have recovered from the loss to Hopkins with the win over Rubio, but I am still going to have to go with a Williams victory. I can't see him knocking Pavlik out. However, I do see him outboxing Pavlik to take home a decision.”
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Paul H. Burbridge – East Side Boxing
“This is a great match up and should be Paul Williams coming out party. I think he will out work Kelly Pavlik and win a clear split decision!”
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Chris Robinson – Examiner (Miami Boxing Examiner)
“I think some people are really looking past Pavlik in this one. Another very interesting fight. Right now if I had to choose I would go with Williams but if Pavlik is able to land a few solid shots he could instantly change the complexion of the fight.”
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Frank Gonzalez Jr. – East Side Boxing, Doghouse Boxing
“Who wins between Pavlik and Paul Williams? This is a tough question. Paul Williams is a voluminous puncher who is tall and uses his height to maintain the desired distance while attacking and defending. Pavlik is something of a straight forward fighter, he has good basic fundamentals but he's a bit slow on the draw. Pavlik has good power but as Hopkins demonstrated, power means nothing when you can't find nothing to hit with it. This fight will test Williams’s ability to take a punch from a big man who can bang. Unlike Winky Wright, Pavlik IS a big puncher. If Williams can box effectively from the outside and keep Pavlik away and clinch when he gets too close, Williams can probably win a decision. If Pavlik can cut off the ring and force Williams into the corner ropes and land some big shots up and down, it'll be lights out for Williams. My prediction for this one is Williams by decision or Pavlik by KO.
Ronan Keenan – The Sweet Science
“I find it difficult to make a prediction on Pavlik-Williams. I think Williams has a more dynamic game and may win a decision.”
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Vikram Birring – Doghouse Boxing
“This is an interesting match. Paul Williams is a mile a minute non-stop punching machine. Pavlik, except against Bernard Hopkins, is nearly the same, as evidenced in his bouts against Edison Miranda, Jose Luis Zertuche, and Jermain Taylor. Expect fireworks in this bout, but the heavier power of Pavlik may win out in the end.”
TO BE CONTINUED
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