Back in September 2007, Kelly Pavlik came off the canvas in a great fight to score a dramatic knockout of Jermain Taylor, winning the world middleweight championship from the man who had dethroned Bernard Hopkins.

Upon the finish of the fight, HBO's Jim Lampley made the call: "There's a new middleweight champion of the world! He's from Youngstown, Ohio!"

Now, there's a new new middleweight champion of the world. He's from Quilmes, Argentina, lived and fought out of Madrid, Spain for most of his career, and now resides in California.

His name is Sergio Martinez, and he's traveled the long road to stardom.

Martinez's hands down, seemingly-arrogant style is good for TV if you only consider that. But then you watch him fight -- he's a cutie. He's in and out, he doesn't often engage in firefights, and his power, while respectable, is hardly jump-out-of-your-seat stuff. Then you consider even further. He will engage in a firefight if he has to, he takes a good shot, and when he's in a rhythm, he's hard to hang with.

Last night's win over Kelly Pavlik was, I thought, a very entertaining fight, full of momentum swings and some great tactical boxing from Martinez's corner. Pavlik, too, fought bravely. After four rounds, he appeared flustered and on the verge of defeat. But then the now-former champion stormed back into the fight, even scoring a seventh round knockdown. After eight rounds, I had Pavlik ahead 76-75, with the tide having turned.

Martinez adapted again. He had cut Pavlik early, and then opened a far worse gash on the other side of Pavlik's face. And like a top-tier fighter, he knew what to do. He zeroed in on the blood, and made it worse and worse, until Pavlik couldn't even see what was coming at him. No longer could Pavlik do the things that had turned the fight for him in the middle rounds. Now, it was Sergio Martinez proving his considerable worth. And in the end, it was Sergio Martinez with his hand rightly raised, the new 160-pound champion of the world. The new man who beat the man. The new king at middleweight.

I admire Kelly Pavlik's performance from last night, but obviously the story is not about him. It's about Sergio Martinez, who has now become a star, when just two years ago I never would have expected that. Since coming onto the HBO airwaves, Martinez has gotten better in each fight. He thrashed Alex Bunema, deserved two wins over Kermit Cintron and left with a draw in a bizarre but entertaining fight, and then lost a nail-biter decision to Paul Williams last December in a Fight of the Year candidate that left both men with a higher profile.

By beating Pavlik, Martinez and promoter Lou DiBella no longer have to hope that Sergio can "get" a good fight. The good fights are coming through him at 160 now. Martinez fought Cintron because they both needed it. He fought Williams on short notice when Pavlik pulled out for a second time. And he fought Pavlik in part because Williams and Pavlik couldn't come to an agreement, leaving Martinez as the only viable option, really, to get Kelly back on HBO, where he needed to be after spending all of 2009 on small Top Rank PPVs and losing some favor with the big network.

Sergio Martinez is now in the driver's seat, and he's earned it. He fought his way here. He has continually surprised people, first with his skill, and lately with his toughness. There aren't many things he does poorly in the ring, and at 35 and having proven how dangerous a fighter he can be, last night really may have been a "now or never" for him. Had he lost a close decision (or been robbed) against Pavlik, who do you think was going to fight this guy? A slick lefty who can make you look bad and isn't a big draw isn't exactly what most promoters are looking to match their fighters against.

Kelly Pavlik is at a fragile place in his career right now. The wrong move could lead to disaster. A safe comeback fight could lead to further criticism, which he really can't afford from a PR perspective. Pavlik has a rematch clause, and I'm going to bet he really does intend to exercise it. Pavlik is still a good fighter, and he's got pride.

He's been on the other side of this before, too. When Pavlik beat Jermain Taylor, Taylor's career had been taking shots left and right. Many still didn't believe that he beat Hopkins in either of their fights, and then he drew Winky Wright, and followed that up with fights against Kassim Ouma and Cory Spinks, neither of which thrilled anyone. He fought Pavlik and lost, then exercised his rematch clause immediately. He lost again to Pavlik, beat Jeff Lacy to finish his HBO deal, and then lost to Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham. Now, Taylor's career is up in the air.

Jermain Taylor had been given the keys to the HBO Golden Boy car, and so seemingly had Pavlik. It turned out that both of them, while good fighters, were not untouchable, which is an unrealistic thing to put onto any fighter. Pavlik was taken apart by Bernard Hopkins, and now has lost clearly to Martinez. How does his career project from here on out?

The truth is, the Martinez rematch is the only thing he can do right now, I believe. He can't afford a "tune-up" or "bounce-back" fight. It won't do him any good. He's got a chance to beat the man who knocked him off his perch, the way Taylor did. I still feel as though Taylor showed a lot of guts and admirable quality by immediately fighting Pavlik again. I would think the same of Pavlik for fighting Martinez again in his next fight.

If Pavlik doesn't do that, Martinez himself doesn't have a world of options either. A rematch with Paul Williams, should Williams beat Kermit Cintron on May 8, would make sense. It was a great fight, a disputed decision, and they brought out the warrior in one another. Past the triangle of Martinez, Williams and Pavlik, there's just not much by way of name value at 160 in America. The rest of the best fighters in the class (Sturm, Gevor, Sylvester, Geale, Mundine, Macklin, Barker, Zbik, Golovkin, etc.) all have no name in the States, except perhaps Sturm, who is remembered for his debated loss to Oscar de la Hoya years ago. And I don't think Sergio Martinez has much desire to take anything but the best challenges, and I'm sure he'd love to avenge the loss to Williams, too.

We'll see how it all shakes out, of course. The division is still pretty weak overall, but last night officially added a top-class fighter to the mix. It might not be the deepest pool, but things are getting more interesting at least.

Sergio Martinez won a well-earned unanimous decision tonight over Kelly Pavlik, taking the world middleweight championship in the process.

Martinez (45-2-2, 24 KO) won on scores of 115-111, 116-111 and 115-112. Bad Left Hook scored it 115-112 for Martinez.

It was a terrific tactical fight, with some great back-and-forth momentum. Martinez dominated the early portion of the fight, but Pavlik (36-2, 32 KO) charged back in the middle rounds, knocking down Martinez and taking a lead on our card through eight rounds.

But then, it was the Sergio Martinez show. Martinez cut Pavlik up, had him bleeding profusely, and took the fight for the rest of the time left, winning what I felt was a clear and solid decision.

Pavlik showed a lot of guts tonight, and so did Martinez. Pavlik has a rematch clause, and I'd expect they'll do this again. The fight was definitely good enough to deserve a rematch. Kelly Pavlik fought through blood, managed to turn the tide of the fight, and just got beaten in the end. It was a damn good fight, I thought, and one worthy of the hype.

All congratulations to Sergio Martinez, the new legitimate middleweight champion of the world.

On the Atlantic City undercard, Mike Jones, Matt Korobov and Ronald Hearns all won. Hearns landed some right hands on Delray Raines that were worthy of his family name.

From Montreal in the co-feature, Lucian Bute knocked out Edison Miranda in the third round. Miranda had been doing fairly well and got cocky. After making a big show of his not feeling Bute's punches, Bute immediately stopped him with a gorgeous left uppercut.

The times changed tonight, folks. New middleweight champion of the world: Sergio Martinez. But don't discredit Kelly Pavlik, who made no excuses afterward and fought his heart out. Both were a credit to the sport tonight.

Tonight starting at 10pm EDT on HBO, live from Atlantic City, Kelly Pavlik will defend the world middleweight championship in a dangerous fight with top junior middleweight Sergio Martinez. In the co-feature from Montreal, Lucian Bute defends his super middleweight belt against Edison Miranda. Bad Left Hook will be here for all the action, with live, round-by-round coverage, scoring and analysis. We'll be starting full coverage at 6:55pm EDT in this post, with coverage of the off-TV undercard from Atlantic City. Join us tonight!

KELLY PAVLIK		SERGIO MARTINEZ
	Main Event

TopRank.com will be streaming four fights from the off-HBO undercard in Atlantic City, starting at 6:55pm EDT, and we'll be here to watch and discuss all the action, making for a full night of boxing here at Bad Left Hook.

This post will be for the off-HBO undercard only. After that, we'll move over to the main post for Pavlik-Martinez and Bute-Miranda, starting live on HBO at 10pm EDT.

Here's what we'll see on the Top Rank Livestream:

• Welterweights: Mike Jones (20-0, 16 KO) v. Hector Munoz (18-2-1, 11 KO). If Jones wins and doesn't get hurt or cut, he'll be in the co-feature fight on HBO on June 12, when Yuri Foreman and Miguel Cotto battle at Yankee Stadium.
• Middleweights: Ronald Hearns (24-1, 18 KO) v. Delray Raines (17-7-1, 12 KO). Hearns, 31, got into boxing really late in life, despite his father being Tommy Hearns. He's one of those guys who doesn't have "it," but unlike a lot of children of great boxers, he also works really hard and comes to fight. This could be a pretty exciting fight.
• Heavyweights: Dominick Guinn (32-6-1, 21 KO) v. Terrell Nelson (8-9, 5 KO). Pretty much a nothing fight for Guinn. I won't even call this a "stay busy fight." Guinn's last four fights have seen him get his career back on some sort of track, after his prospect bubble burst and it turned out he was not, in fact, the next big thing in American heavyweight boxing. There's still a chance Guinn could get a title shot, I suppose, but at 34 it's getting close to now or never.
• Middleweights: Matt Korobov (10-0, 8 KO) v. Joshua Snyder (8-4-1, 3 KO). I know he's only had ten pro fights, but Korobov is 27. It's time to at least fight a decent gatekeeper. He's too polished and too good for fights like this to teach him anything anymore.

Top Rank debuted their new Livestream service for today's weigh-in in Atlantic City, and both middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and tomorrow's challenger Sergio Martinez came in at 159 1/2 pounds. Both looked in pretty good shape. Martinez was ripped, and both of them did some jawing and taunting. For once, it actually just seemed like they were both hyped up and ready to go.

The crowd was pretty loud in Atlantic City, which has become Pavlik's home away from home. The crowd was, as you'd expect, very pro-Pavlik, and Martinez played his heel role pretty well and whipped everything up.

TRLivestream continues tomorrow with the full off-HBO undercard from Atlantic City, featuring Ronald Hearns-Delray Raines, plus Dominick Guinn is in action. Everything will be available at TopRank.com.

In Quebec, Lucian Bute and Edison Miranda both came in at 167 pounds for their super middleweight title fight.

Saturday night's HBO World Championship Boxing double-header is one that has a lot of people talking, at least about the main event. Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Martinez is on paper a potentially great fight with a lot of wrinkles on both sides. We'll go there first, and then look at the Lucian Bute-Edison Miranda super middleweight fight.

World Middleweight Championship: Kelly Pavlik v. Sergio Martinez

For all the world, I can't shake the fact that this feels like a fight where we've got one guy whose reputation has been reeling (Pavlik) against a guy who has picked up a lot of steam with the boxing hardcore fanbase (Martinez), and when the dust clears ... well, I think some people are going to be looking at things a bit differently.

Kelly Pavlik is the world middleweight champion. I'm not saying he's a world middleweight champion on par with the greats who have been able to legitimately claim that distinction over the decades, but he beat the man (Taylor) who beat the man (Hopkins), and he's the real deal at 160. The fact of the matter is, the middleweight division has been iffy for years. It's at a truly low level right now; with Arthur Abraham scampered off to super middle, Kelly Pavlik is really the only guy in the division who can claim to be much of anything, except for Paul Williams, who following his last fight took a small hit himself in terms of where he stood at 160.

What I'm saying is that the middleweight division is not Kelly Pavlik's fault. He beat Jermain Taylor spectacularly, then beat him again in a catchweight rematch. Gary Lockett and Marco Antonio Rubio were mandatories, and Pavlik, like a lot of guys, actually cares about his belts, an instinct I'm hoping will die off sometime when someone can convince more of these guys that the general public does not care about whatever three-lettered trinket they carry around, just if the fight they're making is actually interesting. Miguel Espino I'll give you -- Pavlik and his team picked that guy and he was every bit as undeserving as Lockett.

If you look back at Bernard Hopkins' lengthy and technically historic reign as middleweight champion. Hopkins first won a recognized title way back in 1995. He had a number of terrific wins along the way, but plenty of his own Locketts, Espinos and Rubios, too. This division was treading water long before Hopkins lost the crown to Jermain Taylor, who himself struggled to find suitable opposition. Taylor's defenses were against Hopkins, junior middleweight Winky Wright, junior middleweight Kassim Ouma, and junior middleweight Cory Spinks. That trumps what Pavlik's been given, but Kelly's also fought Taylor and Hopkins at catchweights, and honestly, what else was there? Arthur Abraham and Felix Sturm weren't exactly banging down the door to fight Pavlik, either. For one thing, they'd have had to leave their bubble in Germany, and for another thing, Kelly Pavlik was a world apart from the guys they were fighting, too.

I also have to admit that I find it a bit peculiar that Pavlik is receiving so much by way of back-slapping and "way to go" comments for fighting Martinez, a junior middleweight by trade who is 35 years old and has never beaten a guy as good as Pavlik. I'm not implying I think this fight is unworthy -- there are about five guys at 154 I'd rather see Pavlik fight than anyone at 160, and Martinez is at the top of that list. But Martinez has broken through with a win over Alex Bunema, a disputed (to say the least) draw with Kermit Cintron, and a very exciting loss to Paul Williams. We're talking about a gatekeeper-type and two guys who are still most famous as welterweights.

How is he going to handle Kelly Pavlik?

Kelly Pavlik is big, but with Martinez, it's mostly just a height advantage (in terms of physical size alone). Pavlik is just about 6'3", while Martinez is 5'11", but the long-armed Argentine has a one-inch reach advantage (76" to 75"). Martinez has also fought Kermit Cintron (5'11", 74"), who wasn't as tall as Pavlik but had a similar reach.

The real difference? The way it's used, which is always the case, of course. Cintron has a habit of plodding around the ring and looking to load up his right hand, which is really his only weapon. There is a feeling among some, I think, that Pavlik himself is nothing more than a straight right hand. But he's got more than that. In the rematch with Taylor, he showed a more diverse set of skills than the simplistic "stalk and throw the 1-2" that he's hyped for having. Pavlik throws a good uppercut, uses his jab well, and applies very effective pressure at his best. Can Martinez deal with that? Sergio has had problems with right hands in past fights, and I'll guarantee none of them were as good as Pavlik's is. He may have more than the straight right, but there's no questioning, I don't think, that the "southpaw killer" is his best punch.

The tough veteran Bronco McKart is the only southpaw of note who Pavlik has faced in his career, and though McKart has a great place in boxing to this day, he's not Sergio Martinez. Martinez's slickness is talked up a lot, but more than just being a cutie, he's proven he's tough, too, and that he can punch better than his KO rate (44-2-2, 24 KO) might lead you to believe. The question with that power now is whether it translates against not just a true middleweight, but a big middleweight who can take a punch.

There are a lot of people taking Martinez as the sexy pick, and I think part of that is "What have you done for me lately?" Pavlik's two fights in 2009 were a win over a nearly-terrified Rubio and then one over Espino in December. Martinez also fought twice last year, and gained more steam in both, even though he officially went 0-1-1. If you look at the December fights for both, of course you'd be inclined to pick Martinez. Sergio fought balls to the wall with Paul Williams, going tooth-and-nail for twelve grueling rounds, while a rusty Pavlik faced a guy that simply could not hurt him no matter what he did, eventually running him over on pure physical advantages. Pavlik fought a tune-up, while Martinez fought on the world level. One is fundamentally more impressive than the other, even though Martinez lost and Pavlik won.

I just don't see Sergio having enough important advantages, or important advantages by enough of a margin, to be able to overcome the fact that Kelly Pavlik hits like a mule kicks and is a much bigger man. Pavlik should be coming with renewed fire on Saturday -- if he doesn't, then I'll question officially where his head is at, because this fight is monumental for him. It's the first time since the Lockett laugher that he's been on regular HBO, and the first of his fights since October 2008 that HBO has bought at all. Kelly Pavlik needs this win, and needs it to be impressive. He has to know that. Whatever he says about not caring what people say, believe me, Kelly Pavlik has heard it, processed it, and most likely cares about it on some level. Beating Sergio Martinez convincingly might get people to remember the humble, powerful kid from Youngstown, Ohio who broke through in 2007 by knocking out Jermain Taylor.

I like Sergio Martinez a lot. He's almost 100% different than the guy I thought he was before he finally started stepping up in class. He's tough, he seems to let things roll off his back, and he can fight his ass off. I just think this is an awful matchup for him, and that Kelly Pavlik is about to get things back on track in Atlantic City. Pavlik TKO-10

IBF Super Middleweight Title: Lucian Bute v. Edison Miranda

Alright, I tried to sort of say this with the Last Five Fights feature on Wednesday for this fight, but I didn't want to run out of things to say.

In Bute's last five fights, he has faced Alejandro Berrio, Librado Andrade (twice) and Fulgencio Zuniga. Now it's Edison Miranda.

Notice a pattern here? Bute has been awfully carefully matched during his title run. This is not a whole lot different than the way that the German promoters protect their guys with hand-picked matchups. Bute is a very skilled guy, but more importantly up north, he's a monster draw in Quebec. If they're paying to see him fight guys like Berrio, Andrade and Zuniga -- no offense to any of them, because I like watching all of them fight -- why risk something more? I'm not saying I know, because I don't, but is it really any wonder Lucian Bute is not in the Super Six?

Bute can make a lot of money fighting one-dimensional guys in Montreal, and doesn't need the Super Six to up his profile much. I don't know that he even really cares about becoming big in America. He's the biggest star in what has become in my opinion the best boxing city in North America, if not the entire planet. Plus, out of the Super Six, he's become something of a hot property for HBO, which can afford to spend more money on fights than Showtime can. End of the day, Lucian Bute is making a lot of money at the gate and from HBO now (which was not true before), because if he keeps taking fights like the ones he's been taking, and this one with Edison Miranda, he'll stay unbeaten and the Super Six winner will come to him. And if not, he fights Kelly Pavlik in what would be, if things went according to plan, a very big fight.

Folks fall in love with punchers, and Lord knows Edison can hit, but it doesn't matter when he gets to this level. He knocks out guys like David Banks and Willie Gibbs and Sherwin Davis and all those scrubs he fought, but he didn't knock out Arthur Abraham or Kelly Pavlik or Andre Ward or Allan Green or Jose Varela. Two of them (Abraham and Pavlik) unceremoniously beat the crap out of him, particularly Pavlik. He's never been the same since Pavlik kicked his ass, and he's never going to recapture that either. He used to have the reputation of being this monster power puncher, but over time he's been exposed. Yeah he has power, but so does Victor Oganov.

Honestly, I hate this fight. I see Miranda as almost no threat to Bute besides the celebrated Puncher's Chance. Bute should be able to box circles around Miranda, and he has the power to put him away eventually, I believe. This matchup is so transparent that I'm almost rooting for Miranda to knock him out and screw up a lot of plans, because it would serve a lot of people right. This is a cherry-picked fight with a challenger who has not by any stretch of the imagination truly earned a title shot, but then who has these days, I suppose. Bute TKO-7

The biggest fight of the weekend, and probably the biggest fight of April, will see Kelly Pavlik defend his world middleweight championship this Saturday night on HBO against Sergio Martinez. Let's look back now at the last five fights for both men, starting with the defending champion.

Fight 1: Jermain Taylor (W-UD-12 / February 16, 2008)

After Pavlik beat Jermain Taylor via thrilling TKO in September 2007, the brave Taylor exercised his rematch clause immediately, setting up this 164-pound catchweight fight in February 2008. Most expected Taylor, who was dumping trainer Emanuel Steward and had been unraveling in recent fights, to take a tune-up fight, but Jermain didn't do it. He went right back to the man who took his "0."

The rematch wasn't as epic as the first fight, but my initial feeling that it was "disappointing" was, as I've said before, really silly. It was a damn good fight, with 12 competitive rounds. Taylor got tired late in his first fight with Ozell Nelson as lead trainer, and Pavlik was able to seal the fight in his favor. It was arguably the best all-around performance of Kelly's career. Both Taylor and Pavlik fought smart and cautiously -- after all, Pavlik had tasted Taylor's power and been knocked down the first time around when he got stupid, and he didn't seem willing to test those waters again. Taylor wasn't fearful of Pavlik's power the second time around, simply very aware of it, and knew it was the sort of power that nobody really wants to try and go through. It wasn't the thrilling FotY contender the first fight was, but it showed that Pavlik was more than just a right hand.

Fight 2: Gary Lockett (W-TKO-3 / June 7, 2008)

Gary Lockett is one of the least deserving world championship challengers in recent memory. This fight was a farce, an utter travesty. By all accounts Gary Lockett is a wonderful guy who loves boxing (he's taken over training for many ex-Calzaghe fighters) and always did his very best, but he was remarkably out of his depth against Pavlik. Everyone knew it, too. The fans knew it, the media knew it, Pavlik knew it, Jack Loew knew it, Enzo Calzaghe knew it, and most importantly, Gary Lockett knew it. Lockett came in 30-1, but with a very soft record. Nobody thought he deserved the fight. Nobody. And he didn't. Pavlik wailed on him until the fight thankfully came to an end, having proved to be as big of a mismatch as everyone said it was going to be. It was one of those fights where I felt bad for the challenger, who like I said knew he was outclassed, and felt bad for the champion who had to fight him, knowing it wasn't a real test of his skills or his championship status. I don't blame the fighters -- Lockett tried, but he had no business in the ring with Pavlik, and Pavlik simply did his job. The idiotic WBO allowing this to be a mandatory defense is to blame.

Fight 3: Bernard Hopkins (L-UD-12 / October 18, 2008)

Kelly Pavlik went up to 170 pounds next to fight the living legend Bernard Hopkins, who at 166 years old was supposed to be meeting the end of his line against the powerful, rugged Pavlik. Kelly had all the advantages -- size, youth, probably even speed, definitely power.

I don't get into this voodoo B.S. much, but it seems to me watching the fight now that Bernard Hopkins and his aura, Hopkins' tough guy personality, intimidated Pavlik a little bit. It's not that Pavlik had never faced good fighters before, but he'd never faced someone like Bernard. Hopkins gets into fighters' heads and deconstructs them. Pavlik says he was sick, and I don't have a problem believing that, but he went out there to fight and just plain lost the fight. And he lost it bad. He lost almost every single moment of the fight. He couldn't do anything with Bernard, who gave him some major boxing lessons in this fight.

Fight 4: Marco Antonio Rubio (W-RTD-9 / February 21, 2009)

Rubio had fought a tooth-and-nail brawl with Enrique Ornelas on the Pavlik-Hopkins undercard, a WBC title eliminator between two solid but unspectacular fighters, neither of whom figured to match up with Pavlik all that well. Rubio won a close fight, and frankly set up perfectly as a Pavlik bounce-back foil. He was tough, but didn't match up physically to Pavlik, something that didn't change even after the Hopkins schooling.

The physical mismatch was never more apparent than when the two were next to one another in the ring. Rubio, at 5'10" with a 70-inch reach, was dwarfed by Pavlik, who lists at about 6'3" with a 75-inch reach. Pavlik battered a reluctant, scared-seeming Rubio for nine rounds, until Rubio broke down in the corner and the fight was stopped. It was a one-sided affair all the way, with the challenger just tough enough to not go down, but smart enough to know it wasn't in any way a winnable fight for him. Only occasionally would he even throw punches back at the bigger man, and Pavlik's second defense of his crown was just about as easy as the first.

Fight 5: Miguel Espino (W-TKO-5 / December 19, 2009)

Here's what didn't happen between Rubio and Espino. Pavlik signed to fight former "Contender" winner and ex-junior middleweight titlist Sergio Mora in June 2009. That fight came apart for one of two reasons: staph infection in Pavlik's hand, or a contract dispute with Top Rank. Maybe a combination of both. Pavlik then signed to face Paul Williams in October, but that fight was delayed until December 5 because of the staph infection to Pavlik. Then the December 5 date was scrapped for the same reason, setting in motion a turn of events that wound up with Shane Mosley not fighting Joshua Clottey, either. In a way, Pacquiao-Clottey and Mosley-Mayweather both happened because Pavlik-Williams did not.

But then Pavlik surprised a lot of folks by taking a December 19 fight with Espino, another former "Contender" fight with no credentials. If Lockett was a terrible challenger, at least he was a mandatory. Rubio didn't do well at all, but he was right at the back end of the top 10 in a weak division. Espino was sort of a combination of the two in the end, and to his credit he proved a lot more game than either Lockett or Rubio had. But he was, as they were, physically overmatched against Pavlik, and was banged out in five pretty exciting rounds. Exciting, sure, but tough to rate as a good win.

Martinez's last five after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

In the lesser-hyped half of this Saturday night's HBO double-header, 168-pound titlist Lucian Bute faces fringe contender Edison Miranda in Montreal, in front of what is always an amazing crowd of boxing fans. We'll do the proper fight preview for this and Pavlik-Martinez on Friday, and for now we kick off the preview period with Last Five Fights for Bute-Miranda.

We'll start with the titlist.

Fight 1: Alejandro Berrio (W-TKO-11 / October 19, 2007)

As is easy to see from the list of Bute's last five opponents, he's faced no shortage of guys who can punch, which is basically Miranda's only strength at the world class level. Berrio came in holding the IBF belt, and Bute had earned his shot in an eliminator win over Sakio Bika. Berrio's record coming in was 26-4, with 25 wins by stoppage and all four of his losses coming inside the distance. Bute was able to pretty easily handle Berrio for the most part, and had he not stopped the Colombian with a barrage of punches in the 11th, was well on his way to a wide unanimous decision. Bute led 98-92 on two cards and 97-93 on the third at the time of stoppage. More than the win itself being a big deal, this is notable as being, to this date, Berrio's last real fight. He went back to his home country to knock out a couple bums in 2008, and another bum last year in the Dominican Republic. For all intents and purposes, Berrio dropped off the map after this loss, and fighters like him don't often have a terrible time finding fights.

Fight 2: William Joppy (W-TKO-10 / February 29, 2008)

There's really no other way to say this: Joppy was a crappy pick for Bute's first title defense. He was 37 and hadn't fought anyone of real value since bad back-to-back decision losses to Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor in 2003-04. At his best, Joppy was a good fighter, and he got his chances, but by this point he was well past it. Predictably, Bute dominated the entire fight, winning every round and finally ending it in the 10th. He had put him on the mat in the 9th and forced him to take a knee in the 10th, after which a big flurry ended the fight, which was as merciful as it was anything else. Joppy was too old, way too small, and just way out of his depth against Bute.

Fight 3: Librado Andrade (W-UD-12 / October 24, 2008)

Andrade had only lost to Mikkel Kessler, who by this point was regarded as the world's best super middleweight. And while Andrade lost every second of the fight to Kessler, he made a lot of fans with his incredible punching bag performance. Kessler tore into him with shot after shot for 12 brutal rounds, and Andrade not only wouldn't budge or back down, but he barely looked like he'd been beaten up. It's funny, I don't remember anyone shrieking from ringside for somebody to stop the fight, my God, think of the children, and Kessler-Andrade was way nastier a beating than Caballero-Yordan. But I'll move on. I apologize.

This fight is most famous for Marlon B. Wrong's Wright's completely incompetent mishandling of the 12th round knockdown that Andrade scored on a shockingly gassed Bute. Some people will argue all day that Andrade should have won by knockout, but we've been over that a million times, and the fact of the matter is that all Bute had to do was beat the count, and he did. I know that Wright completely screwed the pooch, but it's also worth remembering that Bute put a whoopin' on Andrade for most of the first 11 rounds, and then he hit the wall. Andrade valiantly battled throughout the night and took advantage when he could, and it was commendable, but I don't see it as the shocking controversy some did. It was pretty heinous, to be sure, but compared to some of the other crap that goes on...

Fight 4: Fulgencio Zuniga (W-TKO-4 / March 13, 2009)

Another hard-punching Colombian. After 15 fights against scrubs in Colombia, Zuniga got a crack at Daniel Santos' junior middleweight belt back in 2003, and lost the fight by wide decision. That title shot was about as deserved as this one. Zuniga does remain the last guy to beat David Lopez, and he does get some kudos for bursting that ridiculous Victor Oganov bubble, but otherwise there's not much to him. He can punch, but he's always been crude. To be blunt about it, Bute was clearly in a totally different class and pretty much beat the snot out of Zuniga. This was Bute's last fight on Showtime.

Fight 5: Librado Andrade (W-KO-4 / November 28, 2009)

Having been bypassed for the Super Six World Boxing Classic (not saying he would have taken it, and Showtime insists they offered), Bute rematched Andrade 13 months after their first fight. This started off like the last fight, with Bute obviously being the better, more complete fighter, but Andrade constantly there, like a bad cold you can't shake. Then it happened: Andrade went down. Jaws dropped -- here was the indestructible Librado Andrade, down on the mat. He shook it off and seemed fine, though. "Same old Andrade, he just went down once," most of us thought. Then it really happened: Andrade was drilled with a body shot that put him on the mat for the count. I think almost everyone picked Bute to win this fight. I don't think anyone anywhere picked Bute KO-4.

My favorite thing about the two Bute-Andrade fights was the deep respect and friendship that the two fighters developed. When Andrade fought and beat Vitali Tsypko between their two fights, Bute was ringside clapping for and encouraging Andrade, and it seemed truly genuine then. After their second fight, Bute remarked, "Andrade proved to be great opponent, a great fighter and he is a great friend."

Miranda's last five after the jump.

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We are now just six days away from a big-time double-header on HBO, headlined by the world middleweight championship clash between Kelly Pavlik and Sergio Martinez. This is, in my mind, a meeting between the world's best middleweight and the world's best junior middleweight. It's a potential stylistic nightmare for both fighters, a wonderful matchup, and the sort of fight that Pavlik badly needs to help rehab a damaged image. For Martinez, it's another earned shot for a tremendous fighter who has sprung into the boxing eye in the last couple of years with some phenomenal performances, including last December's Fight of the Year candidate with Paul Williams.

Below are HBO sit-down interviews with both champion and challenger.

Sergio Martinez: "Kelly Pavlik, he should worry about me in many ways. Speed, which is an abysmal difference between us. The strategy that I will have in the ring that night, and the strength of my punches. Because they will surprise him and hurt him a great deal. My way of visualizing my fight with Kelly Pavlik is knowing that I will win in every aspect."

Kelly Pavlik: "I just think that people have been underestimating my handspeed. They think that this kid's boxing and his footwork and his handspeed is gonna be too much, and I love that. Right now I'm just living off of it, feeding off of it, and it just gives me more determination."

With the lull in boxing right now about to give way to an absolute storm of compelling fights, I thought it'd be a good time to focus on 10 of them that stick out. Not all will be great (or even good) fights, but they all have distinctly interesting storylines, and will help shape what's to come on boxing's biggest stages for the rest of 2010 and into 2011.

Well, except one of them, probably, and we'll lead off with that one.

Honorable Mentions: Andre Ward and Allan Green didn't make the cut, but I suppose that could be an interesting fight if the "good" Green shows up ... Ya like old folks? Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones Jr. II is for you ... Andre Berto's proposed fight with Carlos Quintana has some spark ... Amir Khan and Paulie Malignaggi could be good, but I'd never watch that over any of the fights on this list ... Tavoris Cloud-Glen Johnson just barely missed the cut, and will almost surely be more enjoyable to watch than at least two of the fights that did ... Koki Kameda's first WBC flyweight title defense against Pongsaklek Wonjongkam will decide the new Ring Magazine world champion at 112 pounds.

10. Israel Vazquez v. Rafael Marquez IV (May 22, Showtime)

About three years ago, I tried to do my bit to help start the hype train for the first meeting between reigning junior featherweight world champion Israel Vazquez and reigning bantamweight world champion Rafael Marquez. I could envision nothing less than a great, knock-down, drag-out fight between the two talented and exciting Mexican warriors.

They surpassed my expectations in the first fight, upped the ante in their second bout, and in their third and supposedly final battle, they put on a classic for the ages. Every time out, their fights got better, culminating in a 12-round war (how could they go 12 rounds?) that saw Vazquez storm Marquez in the final frame to secure a razor-thin decision win, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. It was truly epic -- a word overused now (thanks, World of Warcraft), but perfect to describe the trilogy between these two men.

Like many, I had my doubts about a fourth fight. It seemed, in a way, to cheapen what they'd already done. Too much of a good thing. But with both men now campaigning at featherweight, they still offer one another the most money they can make.

It's a dangerous fight for both in so many ways. Not only that they might lose, but that it could be the last time we see either of them in the ring, or at least fighting on the top levels of the sport.

Vazquez, 32, and Marquez, 34, will forever be connected, boxing brothers in bloodshed and brutality. Like Gatti and Ward, Barrera and Morales, Ali and Frazier, and Zale and Graziano, you won't be able to mention one without quickly mentioning the other. The impact they've had on each others' careers and legacies is immeasurable. There is no Israel Vazquez as we know him without Rafael Marquez, and vice versa.

For all those reasons, I've come around and become quite excited for the fourth fight between the two. They deserve the money, the glory, and the chance to do what they wish with their careers. If their desire is to wage war one more time, then so be it. Bring it on.

Photo by Tom Casino/Showtime

9. David Haye v. John Ruiz (April 3, Sky Sports PPV)

David Haye won a paper heavyweight title from Nikolai Valuev last year in a dreadful fight that has been discussed far more than it really deserves. End of the day, Haye has the belt, Valuev and his team are now making outrageous demands for money with Vitali Klitschko's people, and old John Ruiz -- now with Golden Boy -- is in line for Britain's golden child heavyweight.

I've said from minute one that John Ruiz will be more of a danger to Haye than he's likely to get credit for being, and since he's still being given very little credit at all, I'll say it again. Ruiz is no superstar, but Haye's real (read: current) heavyweight experience is limited to the tremendously shot Monte Barrett and Valuev, who pretty much fights exactly the same no matter who he's against, because he's that limited.

Ruiz is better than Valuev, stands more of a chance at being able to cut off the ring and force Haye into a fight, and has been stopped all of one time in his career, against David Tua in 1996. We're talking 14 years ago, and we're also talking the first round knockout, and one that was exceptionally fluky-seeming. Not that Tua didn't have the power to turn anyone's lights out with a good shot, but 19 seconds? They could fight 100 times and that happens that one time.

I still figure Haye will win, whether or not he really deserves to. Ruiz's luck on scorecards isn't about to start changing at age 38, and Haye is a more dynamic fighter. But David's got the still-questionable chin, and Ruiz is a legit heavyweight who isn't a light puncher.

8. Manny Pacquiao v. Joshua Clottey (March 13, HBO PPV)

We're coming up fast on fight week for this one (though not fast enough by my watch), so I'll just put it like this for now, since we'll have a ton more when the week rolls around. Pacquiao-Clottey is compelling mostly because it has Manny Pacquiao. Clottey isn't exciting, isn't a big name, isn't a great fighter. He's solid, tough, very good, and it takes a lot of balls to fight him. This is a really good fight with the potential for a mega upset, and now that Antonio Margarito has been pulled from the undercard (thanks to that dastardly California commission, if you listen to Bob Arum), the anti-Margarito alliance can rest easy and order. Or choose not to order because the undercard isn't very good and there are too many PPVs again.

7. Arthur Abraham v. Andre Dirrell (March 6, Showtime)

Whatever you thought of the decision in Dirrell's fight with Carl Froch last year, it's hard to not admit that Dirrell showed a real aversion to mixing it up with a guy who can punch. Abraham is tremendous at exploiting weakness in his opponents and striking when the time is right, and his high-guard defensive tactics could shut down Dirrell's offense entirely.

On the other hand, if Dirrell learned to be more aggressive after the Froch fight, there's no doubt he's the quicker, more athletic guy in this fight. Using his movement and his hand speed, Dirrell could frustrate the stoic and generally non-aggressive Abraham and rack up a lot of rounds against the unbeaten Armenian, who has a habit of starting slowly. An Abraham win all but assures him of a spot in the semifinals of the tournament, no matter what happens with him in stage three. A win for Dirrell puts him right back in the tournament's running.

Photo by John Gichigi / Getty Images

6. Cristobal Arreola v. Tomasz Adamek (April 24, HBO)

Who's for real? Anyone? Arreola and Adamek are lining up to slug it out on HBO in a fight that will knock one guy out of immediate heavyweight contention, and the fight looks more interesting than ever right now.

Adamek had a bit of a conditioning scare late against Jason Estrada, running out of gas fighting at his heaviest-ever weight. If Estrada had Arreola's power, would we even be talking about this fight? Arreola can punch, and he can box a little. Adamek is a tough guy, but Arreola would be without question the heaviest hitter he's ever faced, and by a good margin at that. There's almost nothing to not like about this matchup on paper. It's about as close to a guaranteed exciting fight as you can get at heavyweight.

5. Chad Dawson v. Jean Pascal (July 17/24, HBO)

This was originally supposed to be set for June 19, but Pascal is coming off of shoulder surgery and his team says he won't be fit to go until late July. It's a good call by them, as there's no good reason to risk rushing Pascal into a fight against the top man in the light heavyweight division. Dawson is a tremendous boxer, but if you look at his sheet since he stepped up a bit in competition starting in 2006, there's nobody who has Pascal's skill set. Eric Harding, Adamek, Jesus Ruiz, Epi Mendoza, Glen Johnson (twice) and Antonio Tarver (twice) are just not the athletic specimens that Pascal is, and Pascal has proven his toughness and willingness to get hit in order to land. He's just a different animal than Adamek, Johnson or Tarver, who presented their own challenges, but nothing like what Pascal offers. Dawson may well cruise to victory, but if he does so it will be because he's that good. Pascal is about as good an opponent at 175 as Dawson is going to get right now.

4. Carl Froch v. Mikkel Kessler (April 24, Showtime)

Froch and Kessler have talked big leading up to this one, and that will probably just get more fiery as the fight draws near. Kessler fired his trainer after his embarrassingly one-sided loss to Andre Ward last November, while Froch has been dogged by questions of a hometown decision over Dirrell.

Kessler's two career losses have come against "spoilers," guys who Kessler himself described as spoiling his style and giving him fits. Joe Calzaghe and Ward bear little resemblance to the straight-forward, basic style that Froch employs. Kessler himself is about as mechanical and predictable as a top-level fighter gets, but when he's able to work behind his powerful jab, he is highly effective. Froch doesn't figure to give Kessler the headaches that Calzaghe and Ward did, so what is Froch's plan? If it's to use brute strength, I suppose there's a chance he can scare Kessler, but nobody has yet.

With Carl Froch, much as I like him, there is still that sense that he's almost living a fairytale, and that the clock has to strike midnight. It's either that or he's perennially overlooked and underappreciated. The Kessler fight will go a long way to figuring that out.

3. Yuri Foreman v. Miguel Cotto (June 5/12, PPV)

The talk of Miguel Cotto being damaged goods is overdone. He stood up to a barrage against Manny Pacquiao, withstanding two knockdowns and trying hopelessly to find a way back into the fight. Even his running seemed to be tactical in nature, as he kept looking for any way to land something on the Filipino that might slow him down. In the end, Pacquiao stopped him in the 12th when Kenny Bayless decided enough was enough, and rightfully so. But Miguel Cotto is no chump, and to be honest, Yuri Foreman is no dazzling sensation.

Foreman's best win was on that undercard against Daniel Santos, who was rather grossly out of shape, hadn't fought in a while, and hasn't been truly active in years now. Santos was once a very good and underrated fighter, but those days are gone. Yuri Foreman is as basic as a bread and water lunch, and doesn't like being hit. That's not a bad thing, but Cotto is probably going to hit him. What happens then?

As our own Matt Miller has said recently, I expect a quite ugly fight with this one, something that will have the NYC crowd booing the dreadful lack of action and amount of hugging going on. Foreman is pretty good, but on pure talent, not in Cotto's league. That said, size is going to matter, and Foreman is a bigger man. Cotto wasn't a big welterweight by any stretch, and he's going to be a tiny junior middleweight. If Cotto can't hurt Foreman or at least make him nervous, I'd expect to see a lot of Yuri jabbing his way around the ring and scoring points in a boring fight. Or Miguel might just rattle his cage early and go for the kill against a less-talented foe.

Photo by Ethan Miller / Getty Images

2. Kelly Pavlik v. Sergio Martinez (April 17, HBO)

Style-wise, Kelly Pavlik's only real challenge in his career has been Bernard Hopkins, the mental assassin who banged him around and dominated him more through willpower and smarts than physical strength, speed or agility. Martinez is a cutie southpaw who seemed tougher than previously imagined in December against Paul Williams, but Kelly Pavlik's biggest weapon -- the straight right hand -- is the southpaw killer, and Martinez has been there to get hit when he decides to get aggressive offensively. This is the first real challenge Pavlik has taken since the October '08 loss to Hopkins, and Martinez is a legitimate threat to the middleweight crown.

1. Shane Mosley v. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (May 1, HBO PPV)

What more can you say about this one? It's a mega-fight that we've been waiting on for a decade. Finally, these two will get it on and sort out what's what between them.