1st title defense may be Trinidad

Kelly Pavlik’s next fight may be against Felix Trinidad not John Duddy.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

LAS VEGAS — A few weeks ago, Top Rank Boxing chairman Bob Arum came to his Las Vegas offices with a brainstorm.

Kelly Pavlik was heading toward a fight with John Duddy at Madison Square Garden June 7, but Arum wasn’t sure it was the best possible matchup.

New York’s annual Puerto Rican parade is scheduled for June 8, and Arum wondered whether Puerto Rican legend Felix Trinidad might be available to fight Pavlik.

“I had a conversation with Don King [Trinidad’s promoter] about possibly doing that fight, so he went down to Puerto Rico and apparently got clearance,” said Arum.

The 35-year-old Trinidad (42-3) lost to Roy Jones Jr. by unanimous decision last month at the 170-pound limit. It was Trinidad’s first bout since losing to Ronald “Winky” Wright in May of 2005. That bout was at 160 pounds.

Arum plans to meet with King next week to discuss a Pavlik-Trinidad matchup.

“There’s two issues to making the fight happen,” said Arum. “No. 1, will he agree to fight at 160 [pounds]? And No. 2, can we make an equitable deal?”

A Pavlik-Trinidad fight would be on HBO pay-per-view.

Arum has also been in discussions with John Duddy’s handlers for the same date and location.

That fight would either be on regular HBO or another network, he said.

Duddy (23-0, 17 KOs) was set to fight Pavlik last month in Atlantic City before Jermain Taylor triggered his rematch clause with Pavlik. The 28-year-old Irishman has a large fan following in New York, making it an attractive bout since Youngstown-area fans would also be in driving distance.

A Duddy-Pavlik card would be loaded with Puerto Rican fighters on the undercard, Arum said.

Either fight would be Pavlik’s first middleweight title defense since winning the title from Taylor in September. Pavlik has not been approached about either fighter, although obviously he’s aware of the rumors.

“We haven’t met with Kelly’s people,” said Top Rank spokesman Lee Samuels. “Nothing has been signed; there’s no contracts.”

scalzo@vindy.com