Cotto Championship Boxing

Kelly Pavlik vs Marco Antonio Rubio, Prediction. The middleweight championship will be up for grabs February 21, 2009 in Youngstown, Ohio.

Kelly Pavlik is not waiting too long to see how he bounces back from his 12-round unanimous decision to Bernard Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KOs) on Saturday, October 18, 2008 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in New Jersey. Pavlik lost his "O" but not his middleweight titles since it was a non-title catchweight fight. Pavlik's trainer confirmed that Pavlik will be back in action next February, taking on Marco Antonio Rubio.

Pavlik (34-1, 30 KOs), the star from Youngstown and the reigning WBC, WBO and The Ring magazine middleweight world champion, has already proved to the boxing world why he is one of the most popular stars in the sport today. He had a stellar year in 2007 when he truly arrived on the championship scene, scoring devastating wins over Edison Miranda in a title eliminator and Jermain Taylor, in which he was stunned badly before coming back and annihilating Taylor in the seventh round, to dethrone the undefeated defending middleweight champion.

Pavlik’s been nearly unstoppable since with a dominating performance over Taylor in their rematch and a third-round knockout over the previously undefeated No. 1 contender Gary Lockett. Those performances, along with an 88% victory by knock-out ratio, have cemented his place as the king of the middleweight division. In his last fight he made his light heavyweight debut, against future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins. Pavlik, fighting 10 pounds above his natural weight, came up short in that non-title clash, losing a 12-round decision. Now back at middleweight where he is most comfortable, Pavlik is determined to create a lasting legacy as world champion in boxing’s most storied division.

Rubio (43-4-1, 38 KOs), earned his spot in the bout by eking out a split decision win over Enrique Ornelas on the Pavlik-Hopkins undercard, becoming the mandatory challenger for Pavlik's WBC middleweight belt in the process. He showed a solid all-around game with good movement and a sturdy chin, but nothing that should scare the middleweight champ too much unless his confidence shows long-term effects from the loss.

Still, it's an opportunity Rubio wouldn't even be getting had Pavlik won on October 18. The Ghost's camp had thoughts of having him continue on at super middleweight or higher, but his immediate future looks to be back at 160 pounds.

Miguel Cotto to face Michael Jennings of the UK for the vacant WBO welterweight title. Cotto's legal advisor Gabriel Penagaricano says that a deal was reached in principle with Top Rank on Saturday, to fight Jennings on February 21

This is an especially important fight for Cotto, mainly because he’s coming off of a devastating 11th round TKO from Margarito in July, a fight which left Cotto a beaten and bloody mess. In the 11th round, Cotto was forced to stand his ground and try to fight it out with him. chopping shots from Margarito which caused Cotto to take a knee. Shortly after that, Cotto took a second knee without being hit, and the fight was promptly stopped.

Jennings, 34-1 (16), previously held the British title until a controversial spilt decision loss to Lee "Young Muttley" Woodley in 2006 and has since acquired the WBU belt, winning six straight contests.

The "Chorley Lurcher" possesses sharp boxing skills and as a natural welterweight, could be the stronger man in the ring against Cotto.

The Cotto-Pavlik doubleheader will take place Saturday, February 21 and will be broadcast Live on Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

Pavlik Vs Rubio Results

Was once again revitalized as hometown hero Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik defended his WBC/WBO Middleweight World Championship with a dominating TKO victory over the WBC’s #1 ranked contender Marco Antonio Rubio. Pavlik moves to 35-1, 31 knockouts while Rubio falls to 43-5-1, 38 knockouts. Pavlik controlled the majority of the fight establishing his jab and quickly fighting off Rubio’s counter punching. The only time Rubio showed any sign of life was during the 6th round. Other than that this fight was executed perfectly by Pavlik.

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