Dogged by a staph infection on his left hand, the undisputed middleweight champion was forced to cancel two fights with Paul Williams in 2009. Following a routine title defense against mandatory challenger Marco Antonio Rubio on Feb. 21, Pavlik spent 10 months in waiting -- the longest layoff of his career. With the WBC and WBO threatening to strip his titles because of inactivity, Pavlik returned to stop Miguel Espino on Dec. 19.
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