THE date is set, the site is secured and the money had been agreed upon. As of late yesterday, the only snag holding up a much-anticipated matchup between Jermain Taylor and Kelly Pavlik is whether it will be for Taylor’s middleweight championship or a non-title fight at 168 pounds. If it’s the latter, then much of the appeal of the fight will lost.
The dilemma over the weight arose after Taylor’s promoter Lou DiBella learned his fighter was nine pounds over the 160-pound limit only days before his fight with Cory Spinks (a split decision victory for Taylor) last month in Memphis. Taylor made the weight and won the fight by split decision but has been told his body may not be able to reach that weight again and still remain healthy enough to fight.
A non-title bout at 168 has been discussed, but that seems remote. Taylor’s trainer Emanuel Steward is confident he can get Taylor down to 160 one last time to defend his title against Pavlik in a fight Steward called the most important of Taylor’s career.
“I know how to pull those last 10 pounds off him and keep him healthy,” Steward said. “So I said to be prepared to do it one more final time and that’s going to be it (at 160). Kelly Pavlik is a fighter he’s got to fight and they’re not going to fight at 168 without a title on the line.”
Pavlik (31-0, 28 KOs) stole the show by knocking out Edison Miranda in the seventh round of their fight on the undercard of Taylor-Spinks, making Taylor-Pavlik almost mandatory. Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City is set to host the fight on Sept. 29 and Taylor, who will earn about $3.2 million, needs a victory to secure his middleweight legacy.
Steward said he is confident Taylor will win.
“I’ve never worried about (Taylor) beating Kelly because (Pavlik) is right-handed and Jermain’s hand speed and reflexes are just too much for Kelly,” Steward said.
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As of yesterday, a few tickets remained for the boxing card at Boardwalk Hall tomorrow night, when Arturo Gatti meets Alfonso Gomez and Kermit Cintron defends his IBF welterweight title against Walter Matthysse.
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Roy Jones meets unbeaten Anthony Hanshaw, who moves up from 168 to light heavyweight, on pay-per-view tomorrow night from Biloxi, Miss.
“This is a great chance to show I’m back,” Jones said.
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If Ricardo Mayorga and Fernando Vargas provide as much action inside the ring when they meet on Sept. 8 as they did during their press conference in Los Angeles Wednesday, then this matchup of past-their-prime time boxers might be worth some attention.
Mayorga and Vargas exchanged punches after the foul-mouthed Mayorga said some unflattering things about Vargas and his family.
“We should have sold tickets to the press conference,” Vargas said.
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John Duddy‘s “Homecoming” fight in Dublin, Ireland, will be broadcast live tomorrow starting at 5 p.m. EDT on pay-per-view. Duddy (20-0, 15 KOs) faces Alessio Furlan (19-8-5, 8 KOs). It will be Duddy’s first fight in his native Ireland.
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Who says boxing is dead? British promoter Frank Warren said he hopes attendance for the super middleweight unification bout between WBO champion Joe Calzaghe and WBA/WBC champ Mikkel Kessler Nov. 3 at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, will break the indoor record for a boxing event of 63,000-plus. It was set in 1978 by Ali-Spinks II at the Superdome in New Orleans.