Something decisive needed

Five thoughts floating around my head with the Kelly Pavlik-Bernard Hopkins fight five days away.

UPavlik needs to do more than win against Hopkins.

A knockout — or at least a few knockdowns — would be ideal, but the 43-year-old Hopkins may know enough tricks to stay upright for 12 rounds. But if Pavlik wants to maintain his momentum in the sport — and it’s waned a bit since the September 2007 win over Jermain Taylor, due in no small part to that turkeyburger of a fight against Gary Lockett in June — he can’t afford a split decision or even a lackluster unanimous decision. He needs to dominate.

An impressive win would put pressure on Joe Calzaghe (who managed a mere split decision against Hopkins in April) to fight Pavlik, and it would do a lot for the 26-year-old’s legacy. Now that he’s already a champion, Pavlik is thinking about his place in history — particularly since he only plans to fight for a few more years.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum repeatedly has called Pavlik the best middleweight he’s ever seen. Now he’s got a chance to prove it.

UHopkins isn’t a great opponent, but he’s better than the alternative.

Did anyone want to see Pavlik fight Paul Williams? How about Marco Antonio Rubio, Giovanni Lorenzo or Ricardo Mayorga?

Over the past 18 months, Pavlik rarely has fought his first choice. When he beat Jose Luis Zertuche in January of 2007, he wanted to fight Taylor. He got Edison Miranda instead. When he beat Miranda, he wanted (and got) Taylor. After beating Taylor, his handlers wanted to fight John Duddy. Instead, they got an immediate rematch with Taylor.

After that fight, Top Rank again wanted Duddy, but settled on Lockett. After Lockett, it wanted Calzaghe and got Hopkins instead.

Let’s hope Pavlik’s next opponent is either IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham or Calzaghe.

UIf Calzaghe or Abraham isn’t available, how about a fight in Cleveland?

It’s hard not to be impressed by Pavlik’s fan base, which continues to travel for fights. (More than 10,000 tickets have already been sold for Saturday’s bout.) But that might not last if Top Rank arranges a bout against someone like Rubio in Atlantic City. Pavlik repeatedly has said he wants to fight in Ohio. And he’s said repeatedly he’s not going to fight much longer.

It’s time for his handlers to arrange a Cleveland fight so his fans can see him fight at home during his prime.

UBoxing’s woes can’t be blamed solely on the bad economy.

After fewer than 8,000 fans attended the Pavlik-Lockett bout in June, Arum blamed George W. Bush and the economic woes, saying the downturn was affecting all forms of entertainment, not just boxing.

Fine. There’s truth to that. But the truth is, boxing does a terrible job growing the sport. Pavlik’s popularity in Youngstown was the only thing that kept Boardwalk Hall from looking like a Marlins home game.

When a sport relies on late starting times (Pavlik’s bouts now start after 11 p.m. on the East Coast) and pay-per-view buys ($49.95 for Saturday’s bout), only hard-core fans are going to watch. You can find top mixed martial arts fights on network TV and cable.

But the best boxing matches are either on pay-per-view or HBO, which greatly limits the audience.

UIf I read one more story about Pavlik reviving the spirits of a down-on-its-luck rust belt city, I’m going to scream.

I admit it’s a good story angle, but it’s been done to death (by everyone from the New York Times to Sports Illustrated to ESPN). Does Youngstown have crime and bad neighborhoods? Yes, same as any city.

But downtown has gotten better significantly in just the past 10 years and Pavlik isn’t the only good thing happening in the city right now.

Yes, the steel mills closed, but the city’s moved on. Let’s hope out-of-town reporters do, too.

XJoe Scalzo covers sports for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.