Pavlik’s Next Fight?

By Joe Scalzo

Arum is ‘very optimistic’ Calzaghe is next on the card

Other possible opponents are Marco Antonio Rubio and Ricardo Mayorga.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Kelly Pavlik said after Saturday’s bout that he’d be willing to fight Godzilla.

The question is, is anyone else?

Coming off consecutive defeats of Jermain Taylor and a three-round beatdown of WBO No. 1 challenger Gary Lockett on Saturday, Pavlik has become the 300-pound gorilla in a division of 160 pounders.

So, now what?

“My first priority is Joe Calzaghe,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said.

“That’s a huge fight. I am very optimistic this fight can happen.

“Joe Calzaghe has never ducked anybody.”

Arum has talked with Calzaghe’s promoter, Frank Warren, several times in recent days and said he’ll spend the next week trying to get the fight done.

If it happens — and most boxing observers are less optimistic than Arum — it would be on Oct. 18 in Las Vegas, most likely at super middleweight.

Calzaghe, however, seems more likely to face Roy Jones Jr., giving him a less risky opponent for the same amount of money.

If the Calzaghe fight doesn’t happen, Pavlik will fight in September, most likely in Cleveland at a site such as Quicken Loans Arena. (Cleveland Browns Stadium is no longer an option.)

The most likely opponent, at least right now, is middleweight Marco Antonio Rubio, who is ranked No. 3 by the WBC (behind John Duddy) and attended Saturday’s bout. Rubio seems to believe he’s a lock to be Pavlik’s next opponent.

“Rubio is a possibility,” Arum said.

“[Ricardo] Mayorga is a possibility. There are guys that he can fight that would be intriguing fights.

“One thing about boxing that’s great is there’s young kids who’s nobody’s heard of, like nobody had heard of Kelly Pavlik, and they come up and they create challenges.”

Although Pavlik has tried to steer clear of naming his next opponent, it’s obvious he’d love to face Calzaghe.

If that doesn’t happen, a middleweight title bout against either IBF champ Arthur Abraham or Felix Sturm (WBA) would be the next best thing.

“Other people recognize me as the undisputed middleweight champ, but I do want those other belts,” said Pavlik, who holds the WBO and WBC titles.

“They’re nice belts. I’d like to put them in my trophy case.”

Both Abraham and Sturm are from Germany, however, and it would take big money to come to the U.S. for a fight.

“Everybody knows how the boxing game goes,” Pavlik said. “I would definitely fight them. But as I’ve said before, that’s not my problem.

“I get the phone call that says, ‘Kelly, you got to fight Joe [Calzaghe] or you gotta fight Arthur or you got to fight Joe Blow.’ That’s what I do.”

The goal is to get more opponents like Edison Miranda and Taylor and fewer like Lockett.

Now that Pavlik is established as the world’s top middleweight, he’s starting to think more about his place in history.

“When you start off boxing, your main goal is to become a world champ,” Pavlik said. “Now my goal is to be the best middleweight in history or to be mentioned with them guys.”

Pavlik pointed to next month’s welterweight title fight between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito as the type of fight that gains national attention and bolsters your reputation.

“When you keep getting those kind of fights, that’s when you really start getting out there and people start mentioning you in that [historical] category,” Pavlik said. “I think I’ve still got a lot more proving to do.”

Arum thinks he’s already there.

“I’ve never seen a middleweight with his kind of jab and the punching power he has,” said Arum, who has been in boxing for 44 years and has watched guys like Marvin Hagler and Carlos Monzon.

“Kelly Pavlik is the best middleweight I have ever seen.”

scalzo@vindy.com