Spring Musings: Middleweight Turmoil and Super Six Tourney Intrigue
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By Mike “Rubber Warrior” Plunkett
Is it just me or does the super middleweight Super Six Tournament the kind of fun competition boxing fans have craved for decades but have been denied? The upper echelon of the super middleweight top ten has been enticed to face the type of opposition and take the sort of risk that promoters and champions so often side-step for the sake of self preservation and continued paydays. Since the tourney was first announced I have found myself both excited at the scheduled match-ups and to some extent in disbelief as each chapter ultimately unfolds. Add to that, Showtime’s Fight Camp 360 chronicles the fighters and build-up in such a well put together manner it not only affords fans around the globe a glimpse into each camp and the mindset of each fighter, it outright rivals anything HBO has ever presented. And that’s a good thing. Competition breeds quality, as evidenced by the tourney.
On the flipside of all of this the tourney is exposing the alphabet belts for what so many have for so long considered them to be; worthless trinkets beyond a certain point. Consider the fact that we’ve seen both the WBA and WBC titles change hands to date in the tourney and that what it essentially does is build-up the next scheduled wave of match-ups in such a way it’s as though additional poker chips are being thrown onto the table as we close in on the big crescendo. It’s no longer so much about the titles for those taking part but rather coming out on top at the end of the tourney, as though the end result win catapults them beyond the level of worth that the titles should in theory ensure. There is no starting from scratch and no need for momentum-building “comebacks” after the loss of a title belt; it’s on to the next scheduled match-up against a different style against an equaling hungry and compelling contender or former world champion. Maybe they should melt down all of the straps and create a new world championship belt just for the winner. In any event, the Super Six Tourney is brilliant and you can bet it’ll continue to provide fans with what they crave as we head into the next scheduled flurry of match-ups.
No doubt you are all aware that Kelly Pavlik recently suffered yet another major career setback in losing his middleweight titles. Now that this has happened I’m pondering a curious championship ride that has left me with more questions than answers.
What was there to not like about this guy? He was compelling in that he came from a small American town and over time he fought his way up through the rankings, along the way providing us with some impressive action bouts and eyebrow raising knockouts on cable TV. When it came time to fish or cut bait he impressed and to some extent surprised with his grit when he endured the wrath of the fearsome punching Edison Miranda, ultimately bludgeoning the powerful Colombian into emphatic defeat. After that came the big HBO moment with a title shot against then undefeated Jermain Taylor. Pavlik demonstrated what he was truly made of climbing off of the canvas and doing everything in his power to ride out the sort of storm that would finish-off most fighters after being dropped and all but finished off by the defending champ. But in 2007 Kelly Pavlik wasn’t like most fighters, he was determined, focused and clearly on a roll. A fall 2008 non-title defeat at the hands of Bernard Hopkins revealed chinks in the Pavlik armor. He was susceptible to angles, deft footwork and the type of fighting mindset that would look to inflict its own game as opposed to risk succumbing to the strange punching power of “The Ghost”.
The loss to Hopkins seemed to take something from Pavlik. Subsequent ring appearances against inferior opponents in mandatory encounters that book-ended pull-outs with Paul Williams under highly suspect pretenses were successful but there seemed to be something missing, a spark that had seemingly been a key part of his make-up before Hopkins was now gone. Ultimately Pavlik would go on to lose his cherished WBC/WBO middleweight titles against Argentinean Sergio Martinez in an entertaining war that from the start seemed to infer that Pavlik had all but wound down. Cut early and initially outmaneuvered, Pavlik roared back to life in the middle rounds only to find himself a gear short and in need of the Red Cross over the last third of the match.
Kelly Pavlik’s recent loss of the middleweight title has me realistically wondering where he goes from here. Fan chatter has expressed the thinking that his trainer Jack Loew has taken him as far as he can and that a new higher caliber trainer along the lines of a Freddie Roach or a Manny Steward is the way to go, but I am not so sure. I thought I saw all of the heart in the world in Pavlik as he fought through the blood and the knowledge that he could not keep up with or find Martinez, but there was a point after the ninth round where he said something to Loew that had his trainer telling him “don’t say it, don’t say it”. What Kelly said wasn’t completely discernable so I’ll stop short of speculating, but I sincerely hope it wasn’t what it appeared to be, and that all that heart that was demonstrated over the course of the bout wasn’t about to be undermined by a dark moment in the heat of battle.
So where does Pavlik go from here? Does he move toward the contracted rematch with Martinez without any big changes made to his team? How does he alter his training so that he is better equipped to deal with the speed and subtle angles he had no answer for before? Does he move up to super middleweight given the rumor that it is becoming increasingly hard to make 160? Does a move up to that division make any sense given that not all that long ago his team claimed he wasn’t as effective at 170lbs and that his best weight was middleweight, and do the diverse styles and talent spread among super middleweight make the move a mute point? Think about it. Those guys are bigger, stronger and have more than one dimension.
I am reminded of the aging Marvin Hagler in the months after he lost to “Sugar” Ray Leonard. His belts were up for grabs among a youthful crop of talented and hungry contenders. I remember looking over the middleweight landscape and wondering where he went from there and feeling as though he would ultimately be embarrassed somewhere along the line given the diverse styles and youth at hand. I kind of feel the same way with Pavlik right now, unsure of which direction he should pursue and if it will even make a difference. Why do I feel that today Kelly Pavlik is in a very real sense a “ghost” of the fighter he once was?