Pavlik-Williams no closer to happening

by Scott Christ on Jul 19, 2009 9:38 PM EDT in Boxing News Analysis

Paul Williams won't get a chance to win the middleweight crown from Kelly Pavlik any time soon, it appears. (via Zimbio)

A potential fight between middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and division-hopping, pound-for-pound contender Paul Williams seems to be gathering steam in terms of fan desire to see it. But Williams' promoter Dan Goossen tells BoxingScene.com that the fight isn't close to happening any time soon:

"About three weeks ago, two weeks ago, I had discussions with Bob Arum regarding a possible Pavlik-Paul Williams fight. ... I told him that we would be willing to do the fight at 50-50, co-promotion and each side split it down the middle and Bob didn't want any part of that."

I think both sides have their points here, but that Arum is absolutely right to not want to do a 50-50, down the middle split for this fight.

Paul Williams is a really hot fighter, but that's from "hardcore fans" and what have you. Kelly Pavlik is the middleweight champion of the world, and there's also absolutely no denying that even though Pavlik hasn't been a big ratings or buyrates guy on TV, he is a better live draw than Williams, who did bad gate business with Winky Wright in Las Vegas. Williams really has no fanbase, and Pavlik's fans have proven their willingness to travel to Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.

Frankly, Arum would be a bad businessman to do 50-50 for Pavlik-Williams, and he's not a bad businessman. And Goossen wouldn't be doing his job for Tall Paul if he didn't demand 50-50 here. It's a standoff.

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KP-PW

I disagree that Goossen should be asking for a 50/50, at least not as anything more than an aggressive opening offer. The basic facts here are summarized properly above and there’s not much else to it… Pavlik is the draw, not Williams.

The interesting aspect to me is that, if Goossen really believed Williams would beat Pavlik, he would jump on this fight at 60/40 or maybe even less. Consider the fact that few fighters are willing to face Williams, and a win over Pavlik would greatly improve Williams’ chances of starting to build a fan base. Not to mention, 35% or 40% of a fight vs. Pavlik is much more money than Williams would get from most possibilities out there.

My suspicion is that Goossen doesn’t really want to put Williams in with Pavlik at this point, and I can’t say I blame him. Pavlik haters have come out in droves recently but he remains an incredibly dangerous fighter, at least against someone without Hall of Fame-caliber defense. Williams has great hand speed but he is hittable, and he has never been hit with anything like a Pavlik right-hand.

It’s just not a good match-up for Williams at this point in his career… he needs to take over 154 and build up strength before he goes after the elites at 160 & 168.

by drivlikejehu on Jul 20, 2009 2:18 AM EDT reply actions

The problem with taking over 154 is there’s really no money in taking it over, and Goossen and Williams are after the most money they can find. Personally I think he’s a little aggressive on this matter (he just doesn’t deserve a 50% split, IMO, even though I think he’s an excellent fighter) but his job is to be aggressive. I mean, we’ve never heard the Top Rank/Pavlik side of this. What do they want? 60-40 would seem the right split to me, but they know their business and their motives here I suppose.

Bad Left Hook
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by Scott Christ on Jul 20, 2009 2:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Eh

If Williams waits for the whole Pacquiao thing to shake out, there may be fights for just as big of money available at 147. 50/50 is just a high bid though. Williams would rather face Mosley if he can, so unless he’s actually getting big money to face Pavlik, it doesn’t make sense to foreclose that option quite yet.

I’d like to see Williams get more active again though. There really isn’t any harm done in fighting lesser fighters on smaller cards once in a while, just to keep your name out there.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Jul 20, 2009 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions