Pavlik is impressive in unanimous decision over Thompson

LAS VEGAS -- Youngstown middleweight Kelly Pavlik put on an exhibition in winning a unanimous eight-round decision over Ross Thompson in the Garden Arena of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino Saturday night.
On the undercard of the Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales WBC-IBF super featherweight title bout, Pavlik won his 23rd consecutive fight since turning pro. Thompson, from Buffalo, fell to 26-10-2.
Pavlik weighed in at 164 pounds and Thompson at 167, but that was a day before the fight. For the fight Pavlik weighed 173 and Thompson weighed 190.
From the beginning, Pavlik was the aggressor, working well off his left jab with stinging left-right combinations mixed in with solid left hooks to the body.
Thompson did answer several times with combinations, but he was much slower than Pavlik. After Pavlik caught him with a straight right and left hook combination in the sixth round, the fighter called "The Boss" went to survival mode just to go the distance. In the eighth round Pavlik again hurt Thompson with a double hook, a left to the body and then to the head.
Lessons learned
"It was a good fight and I learned a lot from it that can help me later," said Pavlik, who pointed out that until he staggered Thompson in the sixth round, it was a talking match.
"He kept telling me what he was going to do to me and after I hurt him he shut up," said Pavlik.
Two judges give Pavlik a sweep at 80 to 72 and the third judge voted 79-73.
Pavlik's co-manager and agent Cameron Dunkin said important people took notice of the performance.
"From Bob Arum down everyone at Top Rank was very impressed with Kelly's performance.
"Because of the [Oscar] De La Hoya and [Bernard] Hopkins joint promoting venture, Kelly being on a Hopkins and Howard Eastman undercard in Philadelphia in February is out. We will move Kelly's next fight to a first Friday in March on Showtime Television with the fight in either Cleveland or Youngstown."
A top 20 contender and possibly a top 10-ranked figher is being considered, said Dunkin.
"Troy Rowland is who I would come up with at a glance because of where he is from and that his record is similar to Pavlik's," said Dunkin.
Rowland, from Howard City, Mich., is 21-1 with five knockouts and at age 29 is 13th in the world rankings, a few notches below Pavlik.
Whitaker KO'd
MIAMI, Okla. -- Warren's Etianne Whitaker may have fought the last bout of his pro career Saturday night.
In the scheduled main event, a 10-round lightheavyweight bout at the Buffalo Run Casino, Alan Green's left hook sent Whitaker down for a 10 count at 1:32 of round two.
Early in the bout, Whitaker looked sharp against the aggressive Green, working his jab and throwing several good straight rights. He staggered Green with a solid right in that round, but he failed to follow it up. Green (14-0, 10 KOs), from Tulsa, Okla., landed crisp combinations and the left hook midway through the second round was the finishing blow.
Whitaker, 32, saw his record fall to 32-15-2.