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Pavlik-Williams Reportedly Set for Oct. 3

Aug 12, 2009, 3:10 PM UTC

The good folks over at Boxing Scene reported last night that sources close to the negotiations have confirmed that Kelly Pavlik will fight Paul Williams on Oct. 3 for Pavlik’s WBO and WBC middleweight titles. The bout will be held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.â†µ

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â†µâ†µThis news came just hours after rumors flooding the internet had Pavlik’s team backing away from a Williams fight and turning toward Winky Wright instead. Clearly, some eleventh-hour wrangling saved the bacon, and boxing fans can thank their lucky stars for that. After a summer in which nearly every big event seemed to fizzle under the weight of contract squabbles or dubious injuries, the fall of ‘09 is shaping up to be one of the most exciting and consequential in recent memory for the sweet science. â†µ

â†µâ†µWe have the Mayweather/Marquez and Pacquiao/Cotto superstar semifinals potentially leading up to a megafight of untold proportions. We have Chris Arreola facing Vitali Klitschko in L.A. and looking to make history as a heavyweight champion of Mexican descent while also looking to make some serious bank as a charismatic and exciting American heavyweight on the big stage. We have the start of the Showtime Super Six tournament, the Chad Dawson/Glen Johnson rematch and the Lucian Bute/Librado Andrade rematch. â†µ

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â†µAnd now there’s Pavlik/Williams, a fight that has seemed like a natural for a few years now, and one that will carry enormous stakes for both fighters. It’s a legitimate middleweight title fight between two stars, one on his way down the ladder (at least so far as his Q factor is concerned) and one on his way up. Kelly Pavlik will be fighting for nothing less than his career against Paul Williams, because, with the memory of his humiliation at the hands of Bernard Hopkins still fresh in the minds of the boxing world, there’s no question that if he were to get smoked by Williams, his days as an A-lister would be over.â†µ

â†µâ†µMeanwhile, Williams will be fighting Pavlik to graduate to that A-list from the realm where he currently dwells – that of The Highly Dangerous and Carefully Avoided. A physical freak of nature who stands at 6’1” and has the arm-span of a pterodactyl, Williams has held titles at both 147 and 154 pounds, but he has never been able to break out of his status as a cult figure in the sport to a more mainstream awareness. But this fight with Pavlik definitely could turn that trick. It’s the moment Williams has been seeking for years now, a high-profile title fight against a high-profile opponent with the potential to catapult his name and reputation into the public eye. After this landmark moment in his career, he’ll no longer be able to parade around under the mantle of “the most ducked fighter in the boxing.” In short, it’s go time for P-Will, go-big-or-go-home-time.â†µ

â†µâ†µI tell you fight fans, all we need now is for Golden Boy and DiBella to ink that Shane Mosley/Andre Berto bout (which, I hate to tell all you Pacquiao lovers out there, would the true welterweight title fight of the year) and oh what a fall and winter season we would have on our plates.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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