Kelly Pavlik, Miguel Cotto: Two Great Boxers, Too Easy Opponents?

On Saturday night, boxing fans can watch both Kelly Pavlik and Miguel Cotto for the price of one pay-per-view purchase, as Top Rank is offering an unusual promotion in which Pavlik's and Cotto's fights, held in separate arenas, will be part of one broadcast.

That's the good news. The bad news is that neither Pavlik (who fights Marco Antonio Rubio) nor Cotto (who fights Michael Jennings) is likely to face much of a challenge.

Check out the odds at Bodog.

Kelly Pavlik: -800
Marco Antonio Rubio: +475

Miguel Angel Cotto: -1300
Michael Jennings: +700

In case you don't gamble, that means the wise guys feel very strongly that Pavlik is going to beat Rubio, and they're just about positive that Cotto is going to beat Jennings.

Rubio isn't a bad boxer; Ring Magazine ranks him as the No. 8 contender in the middleweight division. But he's not on Pavlik's level. Jennings has a good record (34-1), but he's totally untested and his fight with Cotto at Madison Square Garden will be the first time he's ever boxed outside the United Kingdom.

And that's one of the problems with boxing these days. Pavlik and Cotto are both great boxers, but because they're both coming off losses, it's as if they're required to take on relatively easy competition to ease their way back into the win column. It would be much better for boxing fans if both Pavlik and Cotto were getting tough tests.

I like the Pavlik/Cotto card and suspect that boxing fans who buy it will feel that they got their money's worth. But I'd like it a whole lot better if I weren't heading into it thinking I already know the results.