Pavlik likely to face Duddy

John Duddy may get his shot at Kelly Pavlik after all.

The Irish middleweight, who was originally scheduled to fight Pavlik in January, will likely face the Youngstown native when Pavlik makes his first title defense on June 7 in New York City.

Puerto Rican Felix Trinidad had also been mentioned as an opponent, but Trinidad’s father said his son would have a hard time making the 160-pound weight limit. Pavlik’s co-manager, Cameron Dunkin, admitted the chances of a Pavlik-Trinidad fight aren’t good.

“Yeah, they’re thinning,” Dunkin said. “We’re looking more at Duddy than we are at Trinidad.

“But we’re still looking at both. It’s not like it’s over.”

Pavlik’s camp is traveling to New York this weekend to watch Duddy (23-0, 17 KOs) fight Walid Smichet (17-3-3, 13 KOs) on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum will also be in New York to meet with Pavlik’s camp.

“That’s when we’ll start talking about what to do next,” said Dunkin.

For more details, read Wednesday's Vindicator or visit Vindy.com.