By James Slater: Amazingly, though he has never won a major bout at the weight, Youngstown’s Kelly Pavlik has just been placed in the #1 position in the WBC’s super-middleweight ratings. This could mean the former world middleweight king, who has just battled an alcohol problem and is planning a return to the ring, will one day fight the current holder of the WBC 168-pound belt, Carl Froch.
Of course, such a match-up is a long, long way away from happening yet, if at all. Firstly, “The Cobra” has his remaining “Super Six” fights to take care of, and should the 33-year-old lose in either his semi-final or in the final, he will no longer have the belt Pavlik is the top contender for. But if Froch wins “Super Six,” keeps his belt AND THEN decides to stick around at 168 (Froch has said a number of times how he may move up to 175, for a return match with currently light-heavyweight king Jean Pascal), a fight between he and “The Ghost” could happen.
Pavlik, who hasn’t fought since his April 2010 points loss to Sergio Martinez, will not even be thinking about Froch’s, or anyone else’s title, at present. Wanting to take things steady as he recovers from his booze problem, the 28-year-old and his team know he needs a few confidence building type fights before he looks for a major bout. Slated to appear against a TBA on the May 7th Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley card, it will be interesting to see how Pavlik looks in his return.
Still a huge name with a ton of fans worldwide, Pavlik may rise to the very top once more. Assuming he fights at 168 from now on Kelly, with his power, his height, reach and overall talent, could be a handful for any super-middleweight out there – if he has fully recovered from his recent problems, that is.
The possibility of a Froch-Pavlik fight was talked about as long ago as 2008, and a potentially exciting clash it could still be here in 2011. And, as he’s proven in the past, Froch is unafraid to travel to the U.S to fight the best (remember his thrilling, come from behind KO of Jermain Taylor?), so the possible fight could take place in Pavlik’s homeland.
Will Froch decide to stay at 168 when all the dust from “Super Six” has settled? Will he still be WBC champion then? Will Pavlik opt to take a fight wit the seriously tough Brit? Pavlik may not have earned his slot atop the WBC 168-pound rankings, but he may get himself a shot at the belt anyway.