Money talks. It can also have legs. That was the issue that caused Youngstown's Kelly Pavlik to walk away from a payday of $50,000 for a tune-up against Darryl Cunningham of Detroit on Aug. 6 in Youngstown.
Kelly Pavlik, left, backed out of a fight against Darryl Cunningham, costing him a title bout against Lucian Bute.Money talks. It can also have legs.
That was the issue that caused Youngstown's Kelly Pavlik to walk away from a payday of $50,000 for a tune-up against Darryl Cunningham of Detroit on Aug. 6 in Youngstown. The domino effect was that it cost him a $1.35 million guaranteed payday to face IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute in Bute's hometown of Montreal on Nov. 5.
While Pavlik felt he was getting short money, especially for the title bout on Bute's home turf, he got a lot of criticism from most in the boxing world for backing out on short notice. Give the fighter credit for sticking to his guns, but everything is negotiable.
It also left a lot of his supporters in limbo.
“It happened and it's over,” said Jack Loew, Pavlik's lone trainer since age 9 out of his South Side Boxing Club. “It was totally Kelly's decision.
“I couldn't give you a yes or a no about what's going to happen. I haven't talked to Kelly since it was canceled. If he wants to fight, we'll move forward.”
Loew has been keeping himself busy with lightweight contender Danny Williams of St. Louis and Cleveland welterweight Willie Nelson. The waiting game with his other fighter will just have to continue.
The real winner in it all is 43-year-old veteran Glen Johnson (51-15-2, 35 KOs), who landed the payday bout against Bute (29-0, 24 KOs).
Open the box: A news conference is scheduled next week in Atlantic City, N.J., to supposedly reveal the real circumstances surrounding the tragic death of much-loved fighter Arturo Gatti. Gatti's manager, Pat Lynch, hired private investigators, and the results of their work will be presented.
Gatti, 37, was found dead in his vacation apartment in Brazil on July 11, 2009. Brazilian police arrested his wife, Amanda Rodrigues, but released her three weeks later and ruled Gatti's death a suicide. That has never seemed right to many, so this investigation is supposed to set the record straight. Obviously, many feel foul play was involved.
Around the ring: Unbeaten Alexander Povetkin (22-0, 15 KOs) won a unanimous decision against former WBA titlist Ruslan Chagaev (27-2-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday in Germany to set himself up for a title shot against WBA champ Wladimir Klitschko. Scores were 117-113 twice and 116-112. The WBA was referring to this match as one to determine a “regular” champion, with one against Klitschko for the “super championship.” As if the game needs to get more ridiculous. . . . On that same card, unbeaten Robert Helenius (16-0, 11 KOs) stopped one-time WBO champion Sergei Liakhovich (25-4, 16 KOs) in the ninth round by breaking his nose in two places. Liakhovich won his title at Cleveland State's Wolstein Center on a decision against Lamon Brewster on April 1, 2006. . . . HBO will be in Wroclaw, Poland, on Sept. 10, when Tomasz Adamek challenges WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.
Saturday: HBO will be in Biloxi, Miss., as Andre Berto tries to regain a portion of the welterweight title when he takes on IBF 147-pound champion Jan Zaveck (31-1, 18 KOs) of Slovenia. Berto was on the short end of a unanimous decision against Victor Ortiz in April, losing his opportunity to collect a huge payday against Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao. It's on at 10:30 p.m. HBO is hyping its pay-per-view telecast of Ortiz's match against Mayweather on Sept. 17 with another version of its “24/7” series. A segment will air after Saturday's bout. Meanwhile, Pacquiao will face Juan Manuel Marquez for a third time Nov. 12.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jmaxse@plaind.com, 216-999-5168
On Twitter: @JoeMaxse
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/08/whats_next_for_kelly_pavlik_is.html
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