Popular champ Pavlik still drawing crowds
By DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer
12 hours, 39 minutes ago
Buzz Up PrintNEW YORK (AP)—Even in tough economic times, Kelly Pavlik can still draw a crowd.
The popular undefeated middleweight champion will face longtime titlist Bernard Hopkins in Atlantic City, N.J., on Oct. 18, and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said Wednesday that more than 10,000 tickets have been sold.
Arum is anticipating a sellout for the 170-pound fight at Boardwalk Hall, where Pavlik has generated a massive following not unlike Arturo Gatti once enjoyed, even with an economy in flux and people becoming more frugal with their spending.
Tickets prices range from $75 to $700, with most of the remaining seats in the lower price category. The fight is also being distributed by HBO pay-per-view.
“The response has been enormous,” Arum said during a conference call, adding: “We think Kelly is going to surpass anything he’s done on pay-per-view.”
It helps that there’s a strong undercard, led by a WBO featherweight title fight between Steven Luevano and Billy Dib and a middleweight title eliminator between Marco Antonio Rubio and Enrique Ornelas, with the winner perhaps getting a shot at Pavlik.
But the big draw is Pavlik himself, the humble pride of Youngstown, Ohio, whose exciting style, “aw shucks” demeanor and fierce loyalty has him on the verge of transcending the sport.
Pavlik (34-0, 30 KOs) has been on a meteoric rise since knocking out Edison Miranda nearly 18 months ago in a middleweight eliminator. Pavlik battered Jermain Taylor—who twice beat Hopkins—to capture the WBC and WBO belts, then won a catchweight rematch with Taylor a few months.
Pavlik knocked out Gary Lockett in his first title defense in June and wanted a unification bout with IBF 160-pound champ Arthur Abraham. But the German fighter was obligated to fight Raul Marquez, a bout that was postponed to Nov. 8 when Abraham came down with the flu.
Arum also had a tentative agreement for Pavlik to meet linear light heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe, who won a close decision over Hopkins earlier this year. But that fell through when Calzaghe dumped his promoter and decided to fight Roy Jones Jr. later this fall.
That led Pavlik to Hopkins, the wily 43-year-old former champ who once made 20 consecutive middleweight defenses.“I don’t think this is as high-profile as Taylor, just because of the fact that Taylor dethroned Hopkins. But Hopkins is a two-division champion and he’s never been beaten convincingly,” Pavlik said. “I definitely think I can go in there and win convincingly.”
That would certainly be a chore against a defensive fighter whose reputation is to make fights as messy as possible and then simply outlast the opposition.
Hopkins (48-5-1, 32 KOs) looked like age was finally catching up to him when he lost back-to-back fights to Taylor in 2005. But he rebounded with a pair of decisions over Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright before taking Calzaghe to the final bell, in a fight that Hopkins and many others believe he won.
“I’m still here. I’m still around,” said Hopkins, who has never been stopped and has only been knocked down a couple of times in his career. “If I’m not the same person I was in 2001, I want them to prove that by putting me on my (butt).”
While Hopkins dismissed any notion that he’s too old to keep going, former trainer Freddie Roach has expressed concern that “the Executioner” appeared dazed and seemed to wander toward the wrong corner multiple times during his fight with Calzaghe.
He’s likely to be hit much harder by Pavlik, who has an astonishing knockout rate of nearly 90 percent and figures to be even stronger at a higher weight.
“I know my limitations, I know my body. I haven’t sparred in two days because I felt myself peaking and feeling too sharp,” Hopkins said. “People are going to see an expert at his craft, doing what he does best.”
By DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer
12 hours, 39 minutes ago
Buzz Up PrintNEW YORK (AP)—Even in tough economic times, Kelly Pavlik can still draw a crowd.
The popular undefeated middleweight champion will face longtime titlist Bernard Hopkins in Atlantic City, N.J., on Oct. 18, and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said Wednesday that more than 10,000 tickets have been sold.
Arum is anticipating a sellout for the 170-pound fight at Boardwalk Hall, where Pavlik has generated a massive following not unlike Arturo Gatti once enjoyed, even with an economy in flux and people becoming more frugal with their spending.
Tickets prices range from $75 to $700, with most of the remaining seats in the lower price category. The fight is also being distributed by HBO pay-per-view.
“The response has been enormous,” Arum said during a conference call, adding: “We think Kelly is going to surpass anything he’s done on pay-per-view.”
It helps that there’s a strong undercard, led by a WBO featherweight title fight between Steven Luevano and Billy Dib and a middleweight title eliminator between Marco Antonio Rubio and Enrique Ornelas, with the winner perhaps getting a shot at Pavlik.
But the big draw is Pavlik himself, the humble pride of Youngstown, Ohio, whose exciting style, “aw shucks” demeanor and fierce loyalty has him on the verge of transcending the sport.
Pavlik (34-0, 30 KOs) has been on a meteoric rise since knocking out Edison Miranda nearly 18 months ago in a middleweight eliminator. Pavlik battered Jermain Taylor—who twice beat Hopkins—to capture the WBC and WBO belts, then won a catchweight rematch with Taylor a few months.
Pavlik knocked out Gary Lockett in his first title defense in June and wanted a unification bout with IBF 160-pound champ Arthur Abraham. But the German fighter was obligated to fight Raul Marquez, a bout that was postponed to Nov. 8 when Abraham came down with the flu.
Arum also had a tentative agreement for Pavlik to meet linear light heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe, who won a close decision over Hopkins earlier this year. But that fell through when Calzaghe dumped his promoter and decided to fight Roy Jones Jr. later this fall.
That led Pavlik to Hopkins, the wily 43-year-old former champ who once made 20 consecutive middleweight defenses.“I don’t think this is as high-profile as Taylor, just because of the fact that Taylor dethroned Hopkins. But Hopkins is a two-division champion and he’s never been beaten convincingly,” Pavlik said. “I definitely think I can go in there and win convincingly.”
That would certainly be a chore against a defensive fighter whose reputation is to make fights as messy as possible and then simply outlast the opposition.
Hopkins (48-5-1, 32 KOs) looked like age was finally catching up to him when he lost back-to-back fights to Taylor in 2005. But he rebounded with a pair of decisions over Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright before taking Calzaghe to the final bell, in a fight that Hopkins and many others believe he won.
“I’m still here. I’m still around,” said Hopkins, who has never been stopped and has only been knocked down a couple of times in his career. “If I’m not the same person I was in 2001, I want them to prove that by putting me on my (butt).”
While Hopkins dismissed any notion that he’s too old to keep going, former trainer Freddie Roach has expressed concern that “the Executioner” appeared dazed and seemed to wander toward the wrong corner multiple times during his fight with Calzaghe.
He’s likely to be hit much harder by Pavlik, who has an astonishing knockout rate of nearly 90 percent and figures to be even stronger at a higher weight.
“I know my limitations, I know my body. I haven’t sparred in two days because I felt myself peaking and feeling too sharp,” Hopkins said. “People are going to see an expert at his craft, doing what he does best.”
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