411 Prizefight Preview: Kelly Pavlik vs Miguel Espino

Posted by Patrick Cassidy on 12.18.2009

We look at whether Miguel Espino can pull off the miraculous upset, and what Kelly Pavlik has to do on Saturday to silence the critics.


Photos by Chris Farina/Top Rank

2009 has not exactly been the year that Kelly Pavlik (35- 1 31 Kos) was expecting. Pavlik capped an impressive 2008 with a shocking defeat at the hands of Bernard Hopkins. Due to that loss, Pavlik had hopes that 2009 would be the year that he re-established himself as one of the top fighters in the world but, alas, it's not gone according to plan. Pavlik's year has been plagued by injuries which had prevented a mega fight with Paul Williams, and attracted some unwanted criticisms. Pavlik now looks to get back into action, this Saturday, when he returns to the ring to take on veteran Miguel Espino (20 - 2 9 Kos) in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. It is a fight that has left some crying foul due to the level of opposition. Regardless of the dissenting opinions, Pavlik will have to focus at the task at end if he wants to avoid a humiliating loss to a very hungry Miguel Espino.

As mentioned, 2009 was supposed to be the year in which Kelly Pavlik reasserted himself as one of the worlds top fighters. He started off the year with a promising destruction of the always tough, Marco Antonio Rubio. That fight was supposed to propel him into a summer showdown with Paul Williams, but a nasty staph infection suffered on his hand postponed the bout as well as a December make up date. The December cancellation led many to question this bout with Espino taking place only a few weeks after the proposed date of the Williams fight. However, one must realize that Miguel Espino is not the same level of Paul Williams and this fight is more an attempt to get Kelly back into the ring before taking on a more dangerous opponent such as Williams in the future.

On paper, this fight looks like a complete mismatch. Espino has been victorious in his last eleven fights but only one of those opponents would qualify as a legitimate opponent and that was former champion, Alejando Garcia. Espino also lacks the devastating knockout punch that could seriously threaten Pavlik's chin. What Espino does have is a relentless style which is complimented by a strong left hook. Espino will have to use that relentless attack to wear down Kelly and use his long body against him. Espino has studied Pavlik and believes he knows what it takes to beat "The Ghost", "The key for me is stay focused throughout the fight, stay calm and stick to the game plan. It's a good one designed to exploit Kelly's flaws. I have every intention of making the most of this opportunity" explained Espino.

Espino may have a game plan but it's debatable if he has the skills necessary to back it up in the ring. Kelly will have a four inch height advantage as well as a decided power advantage. This poses a problem for a fighter who is known as a pressure fighter, if anything Espino is reminiscent of previous Pavlik opponent, Jose Luis Zertuche. A very tough fighter who pressures his opponent. However, Zertuche was not able to handle Pavlik's deceptive speed and eventually was dropped by a near perfect Pavlik right hand. Espino will have to hope that Pavlik is overlooking the fight(His brother, recently, had had legal troubles which could have been a factor in Pavlik moving his training camp out of Youngstown) and thus will not be able to handle Espino's aggression.

While Espino is facing a fight in which little is of expected of him, Pavlik must deal with the expectation of fans and journalists who are looking for a dominating performance. Pavlik has acknowledged the expectations that have been placed upon him and assures everyone that he is ready for this fight. Pavlik is unlikely to take the fight lightly, it's been awhile since he's been in the ring and you get the sense that the negative comments directed toward him have effected the champion. I look for Kelly Pavlik to pound on a game but overmatched Miguel Espino on his way to a mid round stoppage.

The under card of the Youngstown telecast will feature heavily touted prospect, Vanes Martirosyan (25 - 0 18 Kos) of Armenia taking on NABF Champion, Willie Lee (17 - 5 11 Kos) in another step up fight for Martirosyan, who has shown major improvement in his last few fights. Lee is coming off an upset victory of contender Alex Bunema and will hope that it carries over to his bout with Vanes. Vanes is likely to use his superior technical base to keep Lee at bay for the early portion of the fight before turning it on later in the fight. Lee is no tomato can but he doesn't have the skills to overcome Vanes's crippling jab. Look for Vanes to get the stoppage victory.

The telecast will also feature two fights from Mexico including WBC featherweight champion, Humberto Soto ( 49 - 7 - 2) taking on faded veteran, Jesus Chavez ( 44 - 6). Soto is expected to take care of Chavez with relative ease as Chavez has lost three of his last five fights. Of course, Chavez is a veteran whose been around the block and defeated some quality names. He'll look to test Soto early but Soto should be able to outbox the former champion.

The untelevised portion of the undercard will featured Samuel Peter, as well as Top Rank prospects, Matt Korobov, Omar Henry, and Mikey Garcia. I'll have updates from Youngstown throughout the night via my Twitter , as well as a full rundown of the card following the conclusion of the main event.