Am I the only one not that excited by the upcoming Pavlik vs. Martinez match-up? Of course I will be watching, and Sergio Martinez is the best fighter Pavlik has fought since Hopkins, but I am not convinced that "The Ghost's" confidence is all the way back.
Sure, Martinez put up a good account of himself against Paul Williams, which is not easy to do. Yet, he did lose the fight, and rightfully so, therefore I fail to see a single victory on Martinez' record at Middleweight that would justify this title shot. Even if technically the WBC often allows fighters to fight for a new division's belt if he currently holds one already... there are other factors at work here. What about Paul Williams? He won the fight, yet is getting the shaft again.
Martinez does present a potentially problematic style for Pavlik, but he is surely less of a challenge than Williams. Plus, after the two injury pullouts of the first two scheduled Pavlik vs. Williams match-ups, this looks like Loew and others around Pavlik are avoiding something. Not to mention if a run at SuperMiddlewight is the goal of Pavilk, shouldn't he facing bigger, stronger men to prepare himself? After all, he wasn't knocked out by Hopkins, he was outboxed at 170lbs.
Even if Martinez is a good test for Pavlik, he has not earned his shot. There are plenty of threats at Junior Middle that Martinez should be attempting to tackle. Even fighters he would be favored to beat, like Alfredo Angulo, or a newly forward-fighting Cory Spinks would present interesting tests. Yuri Foreman vs. Miguel Cotto is a matchup making this division even more exciting. However, it looks as if these fighters will have to make Paul Williams' mouth water a bit more, instead of the Argentine champion.
So much for those of us that thought the vulnerability he showed agaisnt Martinez would help Williams' marketability. It is has simply made it easier to ignore him. It also turns out that "The Punisher's" three division assualt, has simply made it easier to ignore him in one division, thinking he belongs to another. Has anyone mentioned him at Welterweight since he took a single fight outside of that division? Williams has also been teased for over six months about this matchup with Pavlik, only to see it go away for increasingly pathetic reasons.
It looks as if Williams will have to settle for facing other dodged fighters, like Sergei Dzindruk (whom nobody is lining up to fight, now that he is in the U.S.) I will be watching the Pavlik-Martinez match, and for the first time, rooting against Pavlik. Not becasue I have anything against Pavlik. I simply think Paul Williams has earned a shot at the Middleweight title, and I know a Martinez win is the only way he will get it.
Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com
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