15rounds.com Claudia Bocanegra was ringside to capture the action as Sergio Martinez wrestled the World Middleweight tittle from Kelly Pavlik at Historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey

To see Sergio Martinez’s exuberance after Saturday’s fight, to hear him call a feeling inspired by the world middleweight championship “a tremendous and incredible pride that is impossible to describe,” was to feel nostalgia for the days Kelly Pavlik inspired the same in fans. So long ago.

Instead, by the time of Martinez’s ecstatic proclamation, the larger part of the smaller Youngstown contingent that made the trip to Atlantic City sadly filed out of Boardwalk Hall, many for the last time. Pavlik protested that he was still a young man, but by then he was protesting too much to an almost empty arena.

So it went Saturday. In an excellent fight broadcast by HBO, Argentine Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez decisioned Ohio’s Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik to become the lineal middleweight champion of the world. And for once the ringside judges had it right and unanimous: 115-112, 115-111, 116-111.

My scorecard concurred. I had it 116-112 for Martinez, to whom I gave rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Rounds 5, 6 and 7 went to Pavlik – with the seventh being a 10-8 round because of a missed tripping call by referee David Fields. I had round 8 even, 10-10.

That wasn’t a ring-side scorecard. It wasn’t even a live-TV scorecard. Instead it was a two-hours-later-via-DVR scorecard. I forewent the live action to attend a San Antonio Symphony Orchestra “Fiesta Pops” performance at Majestic Theatre, which featured Los Tres Reyes and Campanas de America. Fiesta is a big deal in my new hometown. I suppose I like orchestral music and mariachis, too.

But had you told me in 2007 I would forego a live Kelly Pavlik broadcast to watch guys in tight pants accompanied by a woodwinds section, I’d have hit you with a right cross – then snapped my wrist back over the ear like “The Ghost” himself.

Thirty-eight months ago, Pavlik blasted Jose Luis Zertuche, and a lot of us got excited. He then knocked out Edison Miranda. After that fight, I wrote that Pavlik’s simple style was perfect for undoing Jermain Taylor. It was indeed. Pavlik flattened the undefeated, undisputed world middleweight champion in seven rounds. Nothing has been the same since.

I have no regrets about attending last night’s concert in lieu of Pavlik’s fight. Sergio Martinez might have deserved better, though.

Martinez, after all, is the closest thing we’ve seen to a prime Roy Jones Jr. in about a decade. Ten years of combing urban American gyms – 100 “RJJ” imitators in each – turned up nothing. We were looking in the wrong country; an Argentine soccer player who tried boxing at age 20 was the professional we sought. Go figure.

Martinez’s secret? His legs. They never stop firing. He has good head movement. He punches well enough to keep much bigger guys like Pavlik and Paul Williams honest, obviously. But his legs are what make him exceptional. He eschews the skittish upper-body flinching of American boxers and all their talk about “angles” and “footwork” for the more reliable force of his quadriceps. He keeps his hands down – never a great idea in prizefighting – but he makes that play the only way you can: with a tucked chin and constant legwork.

That’s what discouraged Pavlik Saturday. And “discouragement” is the perfect word to describe what has plagued Pavlik in his two career losses, and one borrowed from Pavlik’s trainer Jack Loew. So long as he is engaged in a test of courage with an opponent, Pavlik prevails. You hit me, I hit you, and we keep doing this till one of us is unconscious; there’s still not a 160-pounder in the world who’s going to beat Pavlik at that game. But once you disengage from battle with Pavlik, you remove courage from the equation – almost as if Pavlik were raised in Culiacán, Sinaloa instead of Youngstown, Ohio.

Martinez disengaged Pavlik’s bravery early in the fight and left him discouraged throughout. That’s how an inflated super welterweight beat the hell out of a shrunken light heavy.

Pavlik did rally to make the fight interesting. In the fifth round, Martinez stumbled into a straight left – the very way Loew promised he would – and that emboldened the champ. In the sixth, Pavlik tried to follow Loew’s directions by corralling Martinez with left hook/right cross combos, those “three-twos” Loew demanded. But ultimately Martinez was too fast and countered too hard for that gambit. In the seventh, Pavlik combined a right uppercut and a left leg to send Martinez to the mat. Both guys knew it wasn’t a real knockdown, though, and Pavlik didn’t gain any advantage from it but an extra point.

Martinez cut Pavlik three ways in the ninth: long, deep and often. It changed everything about both men. Afterwards, Pavlik pushed off his jab – nervously moving his glove and body in opposite directions. Then Martinez outhit and outclassed him through the championship rounds.

After the 11th, Pavlik, pale face bright with blood, walked with his shoulders slumped to a somber corner that looked discouraged as he did. Martinez, on the other hand, caught a flurry of verbal abuse from his trainer; why hadn’t he pressed the attack and stopped Pavlik? From impossibility to expectation in 33 minutes.

Whither Kelly Pavlik? Promoter Top Rank will stick with him – hell, they’re sticking with Antonio Margarito, aren’t they? – and at some point, as a heavy underdog, Pavlik might just surprise the eventual winner of Showtime’s “Super Six” tournament. For now, though, he’s off the radar. But he’s still a class act, and so he might well prefer it that way.

Sergio Martinez, meanwhile, is boxing’s new thing. He has a rematch clause with Pavlik and an unofficial mandate for one with Paul Williams. But since neither of those guys can now sell tickets in Atlantic City, here’s an idea: Fight both in Buenos Aires. Put the “world” back in world middleweight champion, Sergio, why not?

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter.com/bartbarry

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

Some thought Sergio Martinez was robbed out of a victory just four months ago at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom in Boardwalk Hall when he fought Paul Williams. Well just a few yards away in the same building and a different opponent, Martinez got his just due as he won the undisputed Middleweight championship of the world by scoring a unanimous decision over Kelly Pavlik at historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

After a non-descript round one, Pavlik was cut from a possible butt around the left eye. That gave Martinez confidence as he began to drop his hands and land some slick combinations to take the second. Pavlik had a dcecent round three as he scored with some right hands. Round four saw Martinez gain alot of confidence as he began to showboat around as he landed some hard hooks and than he buckled Pavlik with a hard 1-2. In round five, Pavlik started getting through with solid rights over the top and the incited the pro-Pavlik crowd of chants of “Kelly Kelly Kelly”..

In round seven, Pavlik landed a little uppercut on the inside and combined with the feet of the two men getting tangled, Pavlik was awarded a knockdown. Pavlik punctuated the round with a hard right over the top. Martinez got back to boxing in round eight as he landed some nice small combinations to steal the round. The fight turned in round nine as Martinez battered Pavlik with hard quick combination’s with the champions face being reduced to a crimson mask as blood streamed down from both side of his face. It was much of the same in the tenth as Martinez landed some nice straight lefts that had the face of Pavlik looking like mince meat. Martinez started the twelth by moving in but landed some nice straight lefts and Pavlik looked the like the same fighter who lost to Bernard Hopkins in the very same ring nineteen months ago.

Martinez, 159 1/2 lbs of Madrid, Spain won by scores of 116-111; 115-111 and 115-112 (15rounds.com had it 115-113) to become a two-time champion and is now 45-2-2.

Pavlik, 159 1/2 lbs of Youngstown, OH is now 36-2.

Glen Tapia remained undefeated with a spirited four round unanimous decision over James Winchester in a Jr. Middleweight bout.

Tapia got the better of the action as he landed several barrages and had Winchester in trouble on a couple of occasions. Tapia dropped Winchester early in round two with a big right hand and almost ended the fight with one of those flurries that had Winchester bleeding from both the nose and mouth. Winchester tried to giad the young Tapia with some “smack talk” and the end of round tghree, but Tapia stayed composed and cruised home for the victory of 40-35 on all cards.

Tapia, 152 lbs of Passaic, NJ is now 6-0. Winchester, 153 1/2 lbs of Greensboro, NC is now 10-4.

Prized prospect Matt Korobov was less than impressive yet cruised to an eight round unanimous decision over Joshua Snyder in a Middleweight bout.

Korobox was slicker and landed the cleaner combinations but seemed ti run out of gas midway through the fight. Snyder was unable to capitalize with the exception of a few brief moments when he was able to trap Korobov against the ropes.

Korobov, 160 lbs of St. Petersburg, FL won by scores of 79-73; 79-73 and 78-74 to remain undefeated at 11-0. Snyder, 159 1/2 lbs of Berlin, MD is now 8-5-1.

Mike Jones remained undefeated as he battered Hector Munoz all over the ring and the bout was stopped in round five of their scheduled ten round Welterweight bout.

Jones ripped Munoz with hard shots to the head and body while using an effective jab to keep the gritty Munoz off og him. Munoz showed a terrific chin as he endured many vicious shots without ever going down.

The fine came when Jones landed some hard shots to the head that had Munoz rocked all over the ring and one huge right to the head that was preceded by four big power shots had referee Benji Esteves stop the bout at 2:03 of round five.

Jones, 146 lbs of Philadelphia will now look for a possible HBO debut on June 5th at Yankee Stadium with a record of 21-0 with seventten knockouts. Munoz, 146 lbs of Albuquerque, NM is now 18-3-1

Chris Hazimihalis dropped Ramon Ellis in round one and needed just eighty-eight seconds to score the first round knockout in their scheduled four round Lightweight bout.

hazimihalis dropped Ellis with a big right hand. Ellis got to his feet and when the action resumed Hazimilhalis swarmed Ellis and the fight was stopped.

Hazimihalis, 136 lbs of Youngstown, OH is now 2-0 with two knockouts. Ellis, 138 lbs of Philadelphia is 0-5

The son of the legend, Ronald Hearns annihilated Delray Raines inside of one round of a scheduled eight round Jr. Middleweight bout.

Hearns dropped Raines with a big right hand in the first minute of the bout. Hearns finished the deal off with a booming right that sent Raines down for the ten count at 1:47 of round one.

Hearns, 155 lbs of Southfield, MI is now 25-1 with nineteen knockouts. Raines, 157 lbs of Paris, AR is now 17-8-1.

In a mild upset, Vincent Arroyo stunned previously undefeated by scoring a knockout in the final round of their scheduled eight round Jr. Welterweight bout.

Bryan dominated the first seven round as he boxed very well using a nice right hand behind singe and double jabs. Bryan knocked out Arroyo’s mouthpiece on two ocassions as he got through with solid hooks.

Seemingly well ahead on the cards, Arroyo caught Bryan with a big left hoof that sent Bryan back towards the ropes. With Bryan squatting on the bottom rope and on his way down, Arroyo blasted Bryan with two hard shots and knocked him at 1:13 of the final round.

Arroyo, 142 lbs of Amherst, NY is now 10-1 with seven knockouts. Bryan, 142 lbs of Paterson, NJ suffers his first defeat and is now 13-1.

Former hot Heavyweight contender, Dominick Guinn stopped Terrell Nelson after round seven of a scheduled eight round bout.

Guinn Dropped Nelson in round one from a big over hand right. Guinn dominated the actionm for most of the fight with exceptions of brief offense from Nelson. In round seven, Guinn landed two huge right hands that drove him back and in trouble. Nelson failed to answer the bell and Guinn got the stoppage victory.

Guinn, 229 1/2 lbs of Houston, TX and is now 33-6-1 with twenty-two knockouts. Nelson, 252 lbs of Plainfield, NJ is now 8-10.

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

Kelly Pavlik 159.5 – Sergio Martinez 159.5
Mike Jones 146 – Hector Munoz 146
Matt Korobov 160 – Josh Snyder 159.5

15rounds.com Claudia Bocanegra was at Gallagher’s Steakhouse in New York City to capture the images from the final press conference that featured Kelly Pavlik and Sergio Martinez before the two will showdown this Saturday night for Pavlik’s world Middleweight championship in Atlantic City.

WBC CHAMP CARL FROCH & FORMER WBA CHAMP MIKKEL KESSLER INT’L MEDIA TELECONFERENCE
WBC Super Middleweight Champ Carl Froch Former WBA 168-pound Champ Mikkel Kessler Kalle Sauerland of Sauerland Event Mick Hennessy of Hennessy Sports WHAT: Super Six World Boxing Classic competitors Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler will participate in an international media conference call to discuss their crucial Group Stage 2 bout in the tournament on Saturday, April 24 on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m., ET/PT, same-day delay) from MCH Arena, in Herning, Denmark. Denmark’s Kessler will be counting on the support of his home fans when he challenges Froch, of Nottingham, England, for the WBC 168-pound crown, a title he previously held before losing it to the retired Joe Calzaghe. Kessler is hoping that home-field advantage prevails for the fifth straight fight in the super middleweight tournament. After one round in the tournament, Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) has two points, while Kessler (42-2, 32 KOs), who has never lost a fight in his hometown of Denmark, needs a victory to get on the board. The Super Six World Boxing Classic bout will be co-promoted by Hennessy Sports and Sauerland Event.
ALSO ON THE PLAYER:
KELLY PAVLIK MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL
YOUNGSTOWN, OH (April 7, 2010) – World Middleweight Champion KELLY “The Ghost” PAVLIK, trainer JACK LOEW, manager CAMERON DUNKIN, and Hall of Fame promoter BOB ARUM, will host an international media conference call Tomorrow! Thursday, April 8, to discuss Pavlik’s upcoming title defense against World Boxing Council super welterweight champion Sergio Martinez. The call will begin at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Pavlik (36-1, 32 KOs), of Youngstown, OH, who has worn the middleweight crown since 2007, defends it against Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KOs), of Argentina, now fighting out of Spain, on Saturday, April 17, at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. It will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Combined, they boast an incredible record of 80-3-2 (56 KOs), a winning percentage of 94% and a victory by knockout ratio of 70%! Promoted by Top Rank, in association with DiBella Entertainment and Caesars Atlantic City, remaining Tickets, priced at $350, $200, $100 and $50, can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster (800) 736-1420 or online at www.Ticketmaster.com.

Nobody has to tell Kelly Pavlik about The Great Recession. He lived it. His career declined like the economy from late 2008 through 2009. It’s hard to say whether projections from so-called business experts are bearish or just more bull. But at least Pavlik has a chance in hand, now healthy, to restore fundamental confidence in an attempt to forget the last 18 months and perhaps re-create a promising future.

Pavlik’s first fight in 2010, a Home Box Office-televised date on April 17 against Sergio Martinez in Atlantic City, is being called the most important middleweight fight in several years by promoter Bob Arum.

Important means it is an indicator about whether it is time to re-invest in Pavlik, whose future was knocked sideways in October, 2008 by Bernard Hopkins and almost knocked out a few months later by a dangerous infection on the middle knuckle on the index finger of his left hand. The infection and maybe Hopkins are gone. But some of the questions aren’t. Pavlik knows that. He has the scars he can see. But professional maturity is often about dealing with the unseen. Second-guessing and unfounded speculation leave their own scars.

“Flak,’’ Pavlik said Thursday during a conference call in a matter-of-fact tone that also seemed to say that he has come to terms with it

Flak is the price of stardom these days and perhaps in any day. Manny Pacquiao has had to endure it in rumors about performance-enhancers that were planted by Floyd Mayweather Sr. and have continued in the wake of negotiations for a March fight that fell apart when Floyd Jr. demanded Olympic-style drug testing. Hopkins is dealing with it all over again from critics and allies urging his retirement after a messy victory over Roy Jones, Jr. Pick the star and you’ll find the flak. Like big money, it’s part of the guarantee.

Along Pavlik’s career path, it may have landed early. But his apparent understanding of it is a good sign for a business that could use him.

“If the flak is going to be there, there’s nothing I can do,’’ said Pavlik, who questioned the quality of opposition Arthur Abraham beat for the International Boxing Federation’s version of the middleweight title before his super-middleweight loss by disqualification to Andre Dirrell. “Abraham got the middleweight world title by vacancy. He didn’t fight nobody to win the world title. Who did Arthur Abraham defend his title against? Why didn’t he get the flak?’’

In Martinez, Pavlik hopes rumors about his willingness to fight Williams.

“Next to Williams, Martinez is the toughest guy out there,’’ Pavlik said

Still, Martinez doesn’t register much on marquee, the marketing scale that measures name-recognition. He also doesn’t represent the career-defining fight that seemed to be Pavlik’s destiny after knocking out Jermain Taylor three years ago. Nonetheless, Martinez is there, in his way and dangerous enough to crush him beneath a burden that will collapse if Pavlik can’t prove he is as good as everybody thought he was before his recession. In December, Martinez lost a debatable decision to Paul Williams, whom Pavlik was supposed to fight before MRSA — a virulent staph infection — put him in the hospital.

“I thought he won the fight,’’ said Pavlik, who went on to say that Martinez’s impressive performance also some weaknesses. ‘I was impressed, but I wasn’t impressed.’’

Martinez left himself open to punches that Pavlik intends to land. However, there are questions – big ones in that collective burden of proof – about Pavlik’s hand speed and ability to deal with punches thrown from angles. They’ve been there since Hopkins upset him at heavier weight, 175 pounds instead of 160.

“From mind-to-fist, I just couldn’t let it go,” said Pavlik, who said he wasn’t feeling well on the night of his only loss in 37 bouts. “It was just a bad fight. Nothing we could do about it. I was lethargic.’’

If Pavlik wins, the guess is that he will finally face Williams in a bout that has been talked about for a while. It might not be quite the showdown it might have been, however, because Williams was disappointing against Martinez.

If not Williams, Arum hinted at what might await Pavlik if he beats Martinez and, in the process, is impressive enough to eliminate the doubts. Pavlik’s future, Arum said, might be at 168 pounds, the super-middleweight division that currently is being decided by the on-again, off-again World Classic Tournament. People are bigger and so are the real middleweights, Arum said. The best, he says are working as super-middleweights, which could mean the emerging Americans, Andre Ward and Dirrell, are in Pavlik’s future.

“After he cleans up the middleweights, then he moves up,’’ Arum said of a post-recession path through flak and now fertile for the beginning of a Pavlik renewal.

Fathers know best
Jack Mosley, Shane’s dad, and Floyd Maywather Sr, Floyd’ Jr.’s father, held court in conference call last week about their son’s welterweight clash on May 1 at Las Vegas MGM Grand in the year’s most anticipated fight.

Floyd Sr. made a lot of noise. Jack Mosley made a lot of sense. That was predictable, unlike the fight.

Jack Mosley says his son’s superior punching power gives him.

Shane, he said, is “fast enough to hit Floyd over-and-over again. That will be a problem for Floyd.’’
Floyd Sr. laughed. Floyd Jr., he said, has superior brain power.

“Shane’s not smart,’’ said Floyd Sr., who believes his son is the more complete fighter.

Floyd Sr. also was no impressed with Shane Mosley stoppage of Antonio Margarito more than a year ago in Los Angeles.

“Margarito was a walking mummy,’’ Floyd Sr. said not long after suggesting that Shane Mosley was a dummy

Notes, anecdotes
· Andre Berto will fight for himself and a cause Saturday in south Florida against Carlos Quintana. Proceeds will go to Haiti’s efforts to rebuild from the February earthquake, which forced Berto to withdraw from a bout with Mosley. Berto has family in Haiti. Money is designated for Project Medishare, a health-care fund. Berto, has been active in trying to help Haitians, also has a Dynasty Foundation in his name at www.AndreBerto.com.

· Margarito isn’t helping himself in the court of public opinion by not accepting some accountability for gauze described irregular by his attorney Daniel Petrocelli and rock-like by others before he was forced to re-wrap hands in the loss to Mosley in Los Angeles. Margarito, who returns to the ring on May 8 in Mexico and hopes to be re-licensed in the United States, again said Tuesday at a news conference in Los Angeles that he had no idea disgraced trainer Javier Capitello had inserted an illegal pad The media will never buy the repeated claim that he had no clue. Writers know that fighters treat their hands the way a master carpenter cares for his tools. They protect their hands so much that some won’t even engage in a simple handshake. Some of the media will never believe him. But a campaign to restore Margarito’s reputation can gain some traction, if he at least says he’s sorry. If he didn’t know, he should have.

· And I can’t help but think of Mike Tyson while watching Tiger Woods at The Masters. It isn’t about golf as much as it is a Tyson-like spectacle. Late in his career, Tyson wasn’t about boxing either. The media would gather at ringside, waiting for an accident to happen. Now, that media are in Augusta, waiting for another one.

Wednesday brought some good news about Kelly Pavlik. All is ready but the contracts for Pavlik to defend his middleweight championship in April against Sergio Martinez. It isn’t the rematch we wanted for Martinez after his fantastic fight with Paul Williams two months ago, but it’s better than any match we’ve seen Pavlik make since Bernard Hopkins in 2008.

It’s also an occasion for examining personal bias, something I’ve wanted to do for a while. The last three years in the boxing gym – privy to arguments between numerous ethnicities and nationalities – have seen me play a role like neutral solon. When a Filipino and a Mexican argue about who won Pacquiao-Marquez II, I’m the tiebreaker, in other words, chastening both for ethnic bias.

But observing’s not as much fun as participating. That’s why I promised the next time a prizefighter who looked like me and came from my country was in a major fight, I’d do an examination of conscience – as the Xaverian brothers at St. John’s High School used to put it.

Kelly Pavlik meets those criteria. What follows, then, is a good-faith effort to better understand why we cheer the fighters we cheer, and where to draw a sensible line for cheering against others.

Folks who put on gloves and headgear tend to cheer fighters according to this hierarchy: 1. Race, 2. Fighting style, 3. Nationality, 4. Personality. This is supposed to be the post-racial world of 2010, I know, so if it makes things more palatable, go ahead and attribute our fixation on race to the forum in which it appears: We routinely get punched in the head.

As a white man in a country led by a black man, I’m now able to enjoy some newfound liberty. I think cheering for someone because he shares your race does not make you a racist. Cheering against someone because he does not share your race, though, may be something you shouldn’t do.

In an important essay about the need for affirmative action, written 23 years ago and subtitled “Reckoning with Unconscious Racism,” Professor Charles Lawrence made a thought-provoking case that anticipated a day when all racism was unconscious. Those of you who’ve suffered through some form of corporate diversity training are surely rolling your eyes right now, saying, “‘Unconscious racism’! Where does it end?”

Point taken. But consider: When the CEO of a Fortune 500 company acts ethically in the task of choosing his replacement, what qualities does he look for? After all, he’s done a fine job for the shareholders, and it’s his professional obligation to find someone who’ll do the same.

Acting in the best interests of his employer, then, he’ll select someone who reminds him of himself. That’s why there aren’t many latina women leading Fortune 500 companies. They’re not all less-qualified. Their predecessors aren’t racists. And yet the boardroom remains monochrome.

Two points, there, pertaining to prizefighting. First, we don’t need to be racists to cheer guys who remind us of ourselves. Second, we do need to be conscious of this predisposition before having our shoulders measured for that cloak of objectivity. That’s true for all sports fans, of course, but boxing, for all the criticism we accept, has always treated ethnic bias more openly than our peers; we expect more honesty from ourselves as fans.

Kelly Pavlik is white like me. He fights in the simple way – jab, hook, cross – that appeals to someone with my slower reflexes. He’s an American. He never belittles an opponent.

That role of the neutral solon I play in the gym? It partially reduces to my people not having a very impressive run in boxing these last 25 years.

That’s also the reason I feel an initial spark of interest about Pavlik that I don’t feel when I hear about Sergio Martinez or Paul Williams. After I think about Martinez or Williams matching up against Pavlik, I might well favor them or even cheer them against Pavlik. But that happens afterwards, and consciously.

What fearlessness I have in wandering about this minefield of bad faith and ruined reputation comes courtesy of Shannon Briggs. Before his 2006 fight with Sergei Liakhovich in Phoenix, Briggs called himself the “Great Black Hope” – in contrast to all the Eurasian heavyweight champions at the time. Intoxicated by a chance to represent his people, Briggs also made allegations of racism at the Liakhovich camp.

How much did this bother a Belarusian making a first title defense in his adopted hometown? In the post-fight press conference, after he’d lost his WBO belt in the fight’s final second, Liakhovich brought it up almost immediately. He turned to Briggs and said, in broken English, he wanted everyone to know he’d never said anything derogatory about black Americans.

Briggs said, “I know.” Then he explained it was just a ruse to sell the fight and get in Liakhovich’s head. Don King cackled away. Liakhovich looked more relieved than offended. And I promised myself I’d never be called a racist and take it seriously again.

Still, voluntary examinations of conscience can’t hurt, especially when I cheer against people.

I cheered against Fernando Vargas when he fought Oscar De La Hoya, but obviously not because he was latino. I’ll cheer against Floyd Mayweather when he fights Shane Mosley, but obviously not because he’s black. I’ll cheer against Wladimir Klitschko when he fights Eddie Chambers, though I can’t imagine it’s because he’s white.

I don’t like the personalities of Vargas or Mayweather, or the fighting style of Klitschko.

I’ll cheer for whomever I wish, then, for whatever reason – and that will probably mean Kelly Pavlik. But when I cheer against someone, I’ll do my best to ensure it’s not for ethnic reasons. I think that’s about as much as we can ask of ourselves.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter.com/bartbarry

Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, world Middleweight champion, Kelly Pavlik will defend his crwon against Jr. Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez on April 17th in Atlantic City and will be televised by HBO.

“We’re waiting for Lou [DiBella, Martinez’s promoter] to send back the contract, which he said there are no problems with,” said Top Rank’s Bob Arum, Pavlik’s promoter. “Kelly is on board and we’re planning a press conference in New York, but HBO wanted us to hold off until after the Olympics. But the fight is agreed to. We’re good on our side and Lou tells me it’s good to go on his side. We’re putting off the press conference strictly because of the Olympics.”

“It’s a great Atlantic City fight, especially with Williams-Martinez having just taken place there and Pavlik being the most proven attraction there in the post-[Arturo] Gatti era,” DiBella said.

“It’s a terrific fight and I think Kelly is going to win, but we know this is a very tough fight,” Said Bob Arumn who promotes Pavlik.”But I think that Kelly has the firepower to come through and win the fight.” Pavlik, who is 6-foot-2, is the naturally bigger and stronger fighter compared to the 5-11 Martinez, 34, who is a southpaw and faster.

“Sergio Martinez is the best 154-pound fighter in the world, but he simply could not turn down an opportunity to take on the true middleweight champion of the world,” DiBella said. “While size is not his advantage, speed is, and sometimes David slays Goliath. We had to bite the bullet a little bit, but it’s a great opportunity even though it is above the weight where Sergio prefers to fight. But he didn’t do so badly at middleweight against Williams did he? We all know that a lot of people thought Sergio won that fight. At some point, he’d like to move down and fight in his own weight class, but this is a big opportunity for him.”

“There are no substantive issues on the paperwork between me and Arum,” DiBella said. “The only issue that exists is that Kelly has had some health issues and I want to know that if Sergio trains for the fight and Kelly is forced to pull out for some reason that Sergio would able to fight another opponent we agree on in Montreal on the Bute undercard.

“If something happens and Kelly’s staph infection comes back or he has another problem with his hand, we want to be able to fight somebody else on that date. My guy can’t have another long layoff. But there is no issue about anything between me and Bob. I just need to get this worked out with HBO, but I don’t think it is going to be an issue.”

Pavlik, 36-1 with thirty-two knockouts and Martinez will compete in a bout for which HBO will be televising another fight from Montreal featuring IBF Super Middleweight champion Lucian Bute defending against Edison Miranda.

These two bout could be the groundwork for a possible Bute-Pavlik fight later in 2010 should both champions retain their titles.

Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank

Negotiations are moving ahead to make a Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Martinez fight this May. While they are still at the early stages it seems as though Martinez hot off a disputed loss to Paul Williams could challenge Pavlik for his WBC/WBO Middleweight crown.

It appears as though it would happen in Atlantic City where Pavlik is extremely popular and Martinez fought last time out.

Martinez agent Sampson Lewkowicz told 15rounds.com that “It’s and Exciting fight that people want to see” He also added that they had an offer to fight the rematch with Paul Williams but preferred to get his man a straight title shot. He also said he is requesting WBC approved judges.

So finally it appears that things are getting back to normal in the Boxing world after being held hostage regarding the on off on and finally off negotiations between Floyd Mayweather & Manny Pacquiao.

Photo by Chris Farina of Top Rank

The top man at Middleweight may not have had the best of years but now Kelly Pavlik’s healthy again hopefully he’ll engage in some big fights and bring excitement back to the Middleweights which have been derelict over the past few years. With Paul Williams having to sit out much of the first half of the year look for Sergio Martinez to take advantage of the situation and fight Pavlik in Atlantic City in April/May. Martinez has skills in abundance and his speed of foot could also cause Pavlik problems, however “The Ghost” is tough, gritty with a huge heart who’ll keep going until the last and pull off a hard fought decision win. Paul Williams will get back into action over the summer possibly against someone like John Duddy or Peter Manfredo either should give Williams the opportunity to put on an impressive performance setting the stage for a highly anticipated fall fight with Pavlik. When all the smoke has cleared Pavlik will have scored a late impressive stoppage in give and take battle. WBA Kingpin Felix Sturm will have several problems getting free of his contract with Universum so wont be very active. Even so it’s difficult to see Sturm losing as he’ll likely have home advantage and probably won’t be matched with any of the top dogs. Fellow German IBF ruler Sebastian Sylvester will make his first defence against the very average Pablo Navascues of Spain. Sylvester shouldn’t have any problem keeping hold of his title in that fight setting up a May/June fight with his mandatory challenger. That will be Roman Karmazin who will best Dionisio Miranda in early January. Karmazin is skilled and tough but at 37 passed his best so Sylvester who will likely also have home advantage, again getting the win. European champ Matthew Macklin has a tough fight with Dmitriy Pirog in February the winner of that will be well positioned to fight Sylvester before the end of 2010. The best of the rest will see Daniel Jacobs become a top 10 ranked contender on the verge of a world title fight. French transplant Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam will also have a good year. Gennady Golovkin will be hoping to fight Sturm but that may largely depend on if Sturm can free himself of his Universum contract. If the fight happens Golovkin is good enough to win it. Matt Korobov will also be busy and start to face better opposition placing him on the fringes of the world scene.

With Sergio Martinez fighting up at 160 leaving him to vacate the WBC title which will see Kermit Cintron paired with Ryan Rhodes. Both guys carry a good story coming in, Cintron will be the better guy scoring a unanimous decision. Don’t be surprised to see Cintron hold onto the title through out the year. Yuri Foreman is on standby to square off with Manny Pacquiao encase Pac-Man’s fight with Floyd Mayweather doesn’t come off. Eventually he’ll settle for a spot on the undercard fighting Japanese WBA Interim champion Nobihiro Ishida. Ishida shouldn’t provide too much of a challenge with Foreman posting an easy points win. Its possible Foreman will be matched with Miguel Cotto over the summer. Foreman has the style and size advantage to give Cotto fits if it happens. Another option could be Joachim Alcine who is popular in Monteal. As time goes by Cory Spinks is slowly morphing from cagey mover into a more stationary boxer which is good for us but not so good for him. Spinks probably due to Don King not keeping his fighters too active will keep the title in 2010 with only Vanes Martirosyan in the top 15 of the IBF posing any threat. With Sergei Dzindziruk not having fought at all in the last calendar year he may have to vacate which will see Alfredo Angulo promoted to full champion. If this happens Angulo backed by Gary Shaw will become a staple in the HBO cards taking part in at least two fights. He’ll be matched carefully against tough fighters and not cagey runners. The best of the up and comers is Martirosyan who’ll outpoint teak tough Kassim Ouma in mid January from there the Freddy Roach trained prospect will continue to develop having a busy year marking him out as the top contender in the division. Shawn Porter came to prominence late in 09 he’ll continue to develop and may even drop down to 147.

The world awaits on what will happen in the soap opera that is the tediously long and drawn out negotiations between Floyd Mayweather Jnr & Manny Pacquiao. Hopefully soon enough they will sort out the Blood tests and put pen on a deal that will see both men earn more than they’ve ever earnt before. Hopefully the fight will then live up to the drama that has ensued in the build up if it does we’re all in for a treat. It pits the skills of Mayweather verses the power of Pacquiao plus many many other intriguing intangibles. When all is said and done and the dust has settled Mayweather will prevail via unanimous decision looking every bit the star he believes himself to be. The only real threat then on the horizon would be Shane Mosley who’ll roll back the years once again and dominate the young skilled but not quite ready Andre Berto. After much posturing they’ll square off in Las Vegas in another huge fight. Again Mayweather will back up his talk and win a competitive but clear cut decision. Antonio Margarito may re-emerge but struggle to get a big fight because of previous history. Cotto after several months off will put himself back in the picture with a couple of wins. Among the possible opponent’s for Cotto if elects to stay at 147 could be Jesus Soto Karass & Jose Luis Castillo. Joshua Clottey will continue to struggle to gets fights and not manage to get any of the big guys in the ring. If he can get a fight with the ordinary Jan Zeveck he could once again be the IBF champion. Zaveck will not get through the year as IBF champion in such a talented weight class. The younger guys coming through should provide enough action to again make the 147 hot top to bottom whereas in 2009 this was only the case for the top 5 or so guys. Selcuk Aydin has the power and attitude to take him to the top, it may get him a European title or even the IBF crown if he gets the chance. The often underappreciated Mike Jones will break out as a top 10 contender. Young guys like Saul Alvarez & Kell Brook could also supplant there credentials with successful years that could leave them with in striking distance of the best.

Another talent laden division is the Light Welterweight’s. The numero uno is Tim Bradley who had a great 09 that run should continue this year with him again struggling to get the Big name that he craves to bring him big money. With Bradley fighting on Showtime and most of the other champions fighting on HBO it’ll be interesting to see who Bradley gets in his next fight. On 6 March Devon Alexander & Juan Urango will look to unify there WBC & IBF titles in a fight that has a lot of promise. Alexander will be getting back into action after 7 months off since he beat Junior Witter, this fight will give him the chance to really push himself out there. I look for him to post a dominant decision win before fighting Victor Ortiz over the summer. Look for Ortiz to get a win in the first half of the year to set up that fight with fellow young gun Alexander. Amir Khan will fight Marcos Maidana possibly on the same card as Alexander-Urango. That could eventually be a prelude to a future match up between two of the very best at 140. Khan will use his speed to befuddle Maidana on his way to getting a points win. At some point a fight between Khan & Paul Malignaggi could very well happen though that may not be until the fall with Khan squeezing in a defence in Britain. The ever popular Ricky Hatton will make his comeback possibly on 1 May as co-main event with Juan Manuel Marquez. The double header will help set up a fight with Marquez for later in 2010. Kendall Holt will beat Tim Coleman in an IBF eliminator but he’ll lose if he steps up to fight Alexander. When neither Malignaggi nor Holt can get a title shot they may elect to fight over the summer in a fight that will help the winner get a title opportunity. It would also be a pretty big fight in New York or New Jersey. Another fight that may interest Malignaggi would be Dimitri Salita if Salita can get a few wins under his belt. That would be a pretty big fight in New York. Ireland’s Paul McCloskey broke out last year and is now the European champion. Expect him to continue his development and gain a few more defence’s that should enable him to improve his rankings in the alphabet organisation’s top 10. Nate Campbell who has signed with Golden Boy should get a big fight but likely wont be able to win it. Lucas Matthysse will get the best win of his career stopping shop worn Vivian Harris on the Mosley-Berto card. That may get him a shot at Bradley later in the year. Noteworthy guys coming through are Philadelphia’s Danny Garcia who was very impressive on the Hopkins-Ornelas card & Britain’s Frankie Gavin who appears headed for the big time.

After losing to Floyd Mayweather, Juan Manuel Marquez will drop back to a more natural 135 on 1 May when he will fight in a co feature with Ricky Hatton. He’ll face either Juan Diaz or Michael Katsidis both have styles that suit Marquez who’ll be favoured to beat either. Edwin Valero fought twice last year against ho hum opposition and will be hoping for a bigger year…he’ll have one too. Starting on 6 February he’ll defend his title against Interim holder Antonio De Marco. De Marco’s a good fighter but he looks made to order for Valero with his come forward style. He may start off ok, but will get caught and when that starts happening the whole fight will change. Valero will take De Marco out by the mid rounds. Valero will be back in action over the summer and he’ll get a license to fight in America where he’ll meet David Diaz. Diaz is teak tough but will also fall into the same trap as De Marco and get stopped in 9. By the end of the year Valero-Marquez will be talked about as well as a move up to 140 for Valero. Another possible opponent’s for Valero could be Urbano Antillon & Humberto Soto. Ali Funeka will finally get his big break when he claims the vacant IBF crown when he stops Rolando Reyes in ten. Funeka is promoted by Gary Shaw who look’s after his charges. I expect Funeka to thrive with the title and be active with a couple of defence’s. It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if the 6’1 South African stepped up to 140 late in the year to fight Bradley. If Katsidis doesn’t get the opportunity to face Marquez on 1 May look for him to possibly feature on the undercard against Jorge Barrios for the vacant WBO title. It would be a war from start to finish with both guys bleeding and hitting the canvas. At the end Katsidis will take the title and improve his status and see him get on another big card before the year is through. Anthony Peterson will come into his own and be a threat to anyone by the end of the year, he’ll get chances to show his talent on Top Rank cards. Another talented young guy Luis Ramos will get more chances on bigger Golden Boy Promotions.