Pavlik is in line to fight for title

But Kelly may not be fighting reigning WBC champion Jermain Taylor.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

MEMPHIS — Saturday night, following Youngstown middleweight Kelly Pavlik’s victory over Edison Miranda, Top Rank Boxing president Bob Arum was sitting at the head table for the post-fight press conference when legendary promoter Don King walked into the room.

“Keep away from my fighter, King,” Arum said, drawing laughs.

Pavlik’s seventh-round knockout put him in line for a shot at the World Boxing Council title. Jermain Taylor retained his WBC title Saturday night with a split decision victory over Cory Spinks.

“Jermain Taylor is the biggest name in the middleweight division,” Pavlik said. “He’s the champion. Of course I want to fight him. I want to fight for a world championship.

“If it [a Taylor fight] doesn’t work out, I hope I get a title fight.”

Pavlik is in line for one, but here’s where it gets complicated. Unless he’s offered big money, Taylor will likely opt to vacate his WBC crown — or move up in weight classes — rather than fight Pavlik. Taylor has six months to defend his title or else he loses it.

When asked about Pavlik, Taylor said, “Yeah, I’ll fight him. But let’s first get the money right.”

Decisive victory

Although Pavlik’s face was battered following the Miranda fight, he did nothing to hurt his career. Not only did he earn a decisive victory — he knocked Miranda down twice in the sixth before stopping him with a minute gone in the seventh — but the fight was wildly entertaining, often resembling something out of a Rocky movie.

“Taylor’s not going to fight Kelly,” said Pavlik’s co-manager, Cameron Dunkin. “He wants to fight [older guys]. He’s ain’t looking for any young guys who can punch.”

If Taylor did agree to fight Pavlik, Dunkin thinks they’d each fight another challengers on a co-feature card on HBO, probably around September. That would set up a pay-per-view title fight.

If Taylor vacates the title, Dunkin will push for a WBC title fight involving Pavlik at the Chevrolet Centre in downtown Youngstown, although the arena’s limited capacity (about 6,000) would make that difficult.

At the post-fight press conference, Arum emphasized that he had a deal with the WBC back in January when Pavlik fought Jose Luis Zertuche. Pavlik expected to get a title fight after knocking out Zertuche. He was told he’d need to fight Miranda (the top challenger for the IBF crown) before he got that chance.

Would seek legal redress

“We paid the sanction fee both times,” Arum said. “I have no reason to doubt the credibility of the World Boxing Council, but if they screw around and don’t immediately order the title fight, we’ll go to the courts and the Congress of the United States [to fight this].”

Arum has already started talking with Taylor’s promoter, Lou DiBella, and they will continue to talk over the next few days. Pavlik made about a half-million dollars for the Miranda fight and stands to get a big raise for his next fight. If the Taylor fight doesn’t work, Pavlik was asked if he’d fight English middleweight Joe Calzaghe.

“Show me the money,” Pavlik said. “I’ll fight anybody, Godzilla, Bob Dole, Joe Bob. ...”

If he keeps performing like he did Saturday, he won’t need to worry about Dole. The fans will demand a Taylor fight.

“He showed he belonged in any era, with any middleweight in history,” Arum said.

scalzo@vindy.com