The WBC middleweight champion has cancelled his upcoming bout with "The Punisher" Paul Williams, again! Kelly Pavlik, who was scheduled to meet Williams on Dec. 5 was forced to pull out of the bout because of an infected left hand.
Pavlik, who is 35-1 with 31 knockouts hasn't fought since a February bout with Marco Antonio Rubio. The Youngstown, Ohio native contracted a staph infection on his left hand sometime following the Rubio fight. He has had two subsequent surgeries in order to get him back to 100%, but according to reports Kelly is unable to make a fist at this time, thus forcing him to cancel a third straight fight.
For Williams, this has to be a huge disappointment. His last fight was in April when he thoroughly dominated defensive wizard and former jr. middleweight champ Winky Wright. The Pavlik fight was slow to be made by both sides and he has now dealt with two cancellations, slowing down his normal fighting regimen. This is currently the longest layoff of his Williams career.
Williams promoter Dan Goosen is said to be looking for a replacement for the Dec. 5 HBO bout. The list of A-list fighters that are going to step in and face Williams is very slim, so I look for Goosen to find an adequate journeyman fighter with some crowd appeal. Unfortunately for Williams, he just can't get a big fight against a big name in any division.
Note: Josh Clottey was scheduled to face Carlos Quintana on the undercard. That bout has also been scrapped.
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