By David Kolb
The blueprint has been unfurled over the past year for all to see, and now Top Rank hopes that the same blueprint that Kelly Pavlik set is replicated by their undefeated junior middleweight, Yuri Foreman.
Pavlik was 27-0 and made his Versus Network debut against Bronco McKart in July of 2006. He proceeded to defeat McKart via TKO in the 6th round, winning the NABF middleweight belt. He again fought on Versus a few months later in November in his hometown of Youngstown Ohio, and gained a 4th round TKO of Lenord Pierre.
On Thursday night, Yuri Foreman, 24-0 (8 KO’s) puts his NABF junior middleweight title on the line as he faces Saul Roman, 28-4 (24 KO’s), at The Aviator, located in Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field, a bout that will be televised on Versus. He is headlining the card, which is co-promoted by Final Forum and Top Rank.
The Pavlik victories on Versus paved the way for his title run of 2007. Following his two Versus wins, he fought on HBO twice, defeating Jose Luis Zertuche and then Edison Miranda, setting the table for his title shot at Jermain Taylor.
Top Rank hopes that Foreman will travel down the same path that Pavlik paved beginning Thursday against Roman.
Make no mistake about it, Foreman is not the knockout puncher Pavlik is, but he is a blue-collar pugilist that moves well and works primarily off the jab. Not particularly eye-candy for the average eye; however, to the true boxing fan, his style can be an art form.
This fight will be yet another step up for Foreman, who defeated both Anthony Thompson and Andrey Tsurkan in his last two fights. Both of those fights were close split decisions, but they were wins that Foreman undoubtedly has used as a stepping stone for Thursday’s opponent.
Meanwhile, Roman, of Tijuana, Mexico, is no slouch himself. His last time out he defeated Kassim Ouma via a close split decision.
“He has some decent power, you can see from his record. He has 24 knockouts but most of them against not so good opponents. He fought questionable guys but just recently he got a victory over Ouma,” said Foreman.
For Foreman, this fight will redefine the term “fighting at home”, as he will not only fight in his hometown, but in his home borough.
“I fought many times in New York, including Madison Square Garden, but this is my first time fighting in Brooklyn as a professional, although I fought in the Golden Gloves many times in Brooklyn,” said Foreman.
Foreman lives in Brooklyn and trains there as well, making Gleason’s Gym his home away from home.
Currently ranked by the WBC (#9), WBA (#4), IBF (#15) and WBO (#9), Foreman is looking forward to facing the bigger and better names of the division. While there aren’t any superstars in this division (not counting Oscar de la Hoya), there are plenty of quality fighters that make interesting fights. Additionally, the weight class is truly up for grabs now after Verno Phillips defeated Cory Spinks for the IBF belt last week.
Said his promoter, Bob Arum,"If Yuri wins he will get a world title shot later this year, most likely on one of our PPV cards."
The confident Foreman said, “I’m definitely ready to fight world class fighters.”
Clottey Looking to Stay Sharp
Two days before Joshua Clottey faced, and eventually lost to, Antonio Margarito in Atlantic City, N.J. back in December 2006, I spoke with him. The kid was outright ready. He was so confident he was going to beat Margarito. I saw it in his eyes. It wasn’t fake talk thrown at the media. He was sincere.
ADD COMMENT VIEW COMMENTS (2)