The top fight on the Manny Pacquaio-Antonio Margarito undercard is no more as former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik sustained a rib injury training and has withdrawn from the Nov. 13 fight aginst Brian Vera at Cowboys Stadium.
It was going to have been Pavlik’s first fight since Sergio Martinez outpointed him to win the 160-pound world championship in April.
“I don’t know exactly what happened, but I was told by [trainer] Jack Loew that he had a rib injury a few days ago and might not be able to fight, and then he confirmed it to me (Monday) morning,” co-manager Cameron Dunkin said. “I’m heartbroken, I’m devastated, I’m sick to my stomach. This was such a great opportunity for Kelly, to be at Cowboys Stadium in front of who knows how many fans in a fun fight on a great show, a great event. I could go on and on.”
The Vera fight was going to be held at 164 pounds, right between the middleweight and super middleweight limits. Pavlik hasn’t ruled out another run at middleweight but also has eyes on super middleweight, particularly Lucian Bute and Andre Ward. It would seem unlikely he fights at middleweight again as he had trouble slimming down to the 160-pound middleweight limit before the Martinez bout. In fact, he reported to camp seven-and-a-half weeks before the fight with Martinez at 193 pounds. A week before the fight, he was 171 pounds.
Pavlik wasn’t really expected to have much trouble with the 28-year-old Vera, (17-5, 11 KOs) who has lost four of his last five bouts and hasn’t fought anyone near the caliber of Pavlik. Rather than give Pavlik top billing for a lesser event, Top Rank had put him on the Pacquiao undercard so it could expose him to as many people as possible and because Vera’s straight-ahead style suits Pavlik.
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