Top Rank and Showtime have confirmed that former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik has withdrawn from his ShoBox main event this Saturday (August 6) against Darryl Cunningham.
The bout was supposed to be a tuneup before Pavlik faced IBF super-middleweight champion Lucian Bute on November 5. However, Pavlik was reportedly upset with the $1 million contract after requesting $3 million to face Bute. Pavlik was scheduled to make $50,000 for the Cunningham fight.
According to a tweet earlier today from Showtime Sports, Top Rank has been forced to cancel their planned national broadcast. The fight would have been Pavlik’s first in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio since 2009
“Top Rank is very disappointed at Kelly’s sudden decision to discontinue the rebuilding of his boxing career,” said Top Rank president Todd duBoef. “Kelly’s team specifically outlined a strategy for Kelly to return to the ring in an effective fashion. Kelly’s team gave us their objectives and we set them on a course, which began last May with Kelly’s fight against Alfonso Lopez and was to continue on Saturday against Darryl Cunningham. It seems Kelly has derailed this plan.”
At press time, Lucian Bute may now face Glen Johnson on November 5.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 