Pavlik-Mora could be finalized this week

Kelly Pavlik’s middleweight title bout against Sergio Mora on June 27 in Atlantic City will likely be finalized this week, his promoter, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, said Monday.

The Mora bout will be aired on independent pay-per-view and Arum promised a “loaded undercard,” although he declined to get into specifics.

“I want to surprise everybody,” he said. “It’s going to be really good.”

Mora (21-1-1, 5 KOs) is best known for winning the first season of the boxing reality series “The Contender.”

He’s coming off a unanimous decision loss to Vernon Forrest in a WBC light middleweight bout last September. Mora had won the belt with a 12-round majority decision win over Forrest last June and blamed his poor showing in September on an inability to make weight, prompting him to jump to middleweight.

A Pavlik win over Mora could set up a showdown with IBF champion Arthur Abraham on Nov. 7 at Madison Square Garden.

Abraham (29-0, 23 KOs) will fight mandatory challenger Giovanni Lorenzo on June 27 in Germany and Arum would like to air that bout (on tape delay) during the Pavlik-Mora telecast in order to increase Abraham’s exposure in the United States.

Following the Abraham bout, Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) could meet two-time WBA super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham, Arum said.

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