According to ESPN’s Web site, fighter Paul Williams has found a replacement for the injured Kelly Pavlik for his scheduled Dec. 5 bout in Atlantic City. ESPN notes:

“After a two-week search for a new opponent, Paul Williams has one. He will meet junior middleweight titlist Sergio Martinez in a non-title middleweight bout Dec. 5, Williams promoter Dan Goossen told ESPN.com Wednesday.

Williams and Martinez, both southpaws, will meet in the 12-round main event of HBO’s “World Championship Boxing” in Atlantic City, N.J., at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom, the smaller, upstairs arena inside Boardwalk Hall.

Kelly Pavlik

It has been announced that Kelly Pavlik’s scheduled title defense against Paul Williams on Dec. 5 at Boardwalk Hall has been called off. Pavlik’s problem with a staph infection in his left hand has not been completely resolved. Williams, however, may still fight at Boardwalk Hall on that date if a suitable opponent can be found. For more information go here.

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

This is the best time of the year to be a Philadelphia-area sports fan. Despite a few stumbles down the stretch, the Phillies will be in the hunt to repeat as World Series Champions. With the Eagles three games in, the Flyers opening their season this Friday (Oct. 2) and the Sixers soon to follow on Oct. 28, we could have a

I hope to carve another pumpkin this year.

four-team day of victories, assuming the Phillies make it to the World Series, scheduled to begin on Oct. 28.
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In addition to all the excitement generated by the Eagles and Phillies, we have some exciting sports news in the Atlantic City region. It has just been announced this week that ice hockey is returning to Boardwalk Hall. It is not a pro team, but college’s ECAC Hockey will have its Men’s Championship at the Hall rink in 2011 through 2013. The event will bring the elite ECAC Hockey conference, comprised of 12 of the most prestigious men’s ice hockey programs in the nation, to town. Schools in the ECAC are Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Quinnipiac, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Union and Yale.  The two most recent sites for the tournament have been Albany and Lake Placid, New York. Tickets for the tournament are expected to go on sale mid-2010. For more information about ECAC Hockey, visit here

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Arturo “Thunder” Gatti, the popular boxer and former two-time world champion who died tragically on July 11, was one of Atlantic City’s “adopted sons.” He was sort of a man of the world — born in Italy, raised in Canada, lived and trained in northern New Jersey, and died in a Brazilian hotel room — but the city that embraced him more than any other was here, and there are essentially two main reasons.
Gatti was well liked by the masses because he was friendly and approachable outside the ring, and in the ring he always gave valiant efforts, whether pitted against opponents he outclassed (like previously unbeaten Leonard Dorin), who outclassed him (Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather) or against whom he was evenly matched, like Tracy Harris Patterson and Mickey Ward. It was a thrilling trilogy against Ward that cemented Gatti’s legacy in A.C., and helped him sell out Boardwalk Hall nine straight times.
Next Saturday, Sept. 19, Bally’s Atlantic City will present a “Night of Thunder” tribute to Gatti prior to the main event of a boxing card headlined by unbeaten bantamweight Teon Kennedy of Philadelphia (13-0, 5 knockouts) and Lante Addy of Ghana, the current West African Bantamweight champion. Afterward, 32 Degrees Luxe Lounge in The Quarter at Tropicana will host a “Night of Thunder” after-party as a tribute to his life. Gatti was a frequent guest at 32 Degrees, and even had his own VIP bottle-service storage locker.
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Kelly

After being announced and then postponed due to a staph infection, The Kelly Pavlik-Paul Williams mega-fight has a new date: December 5 at Boardwalk Hall.
“Pavlik has been completely medically cleared by the Cleveland Clinic in terms of the staph infection he had on his left hand,” according to the fight’s promoter, Bob Arum.

Talk about getting your head whipped back by an uppercut, right after all the details were announced for the Pavlik vs. Williams fight Oct. 3 at Boardwalk Hall, comes the word that the fight has been posponed due to an infection in Pavlik’s hand. According to USA Today,  “Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik’s title defense against Paul Williams has been postponed because of a persistent infection in his left hand. Pavlik was scheduled to fight Williams at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on Oct. 3. Top Rank spokesman Lee Samuels said the company now expects the fight to be held Nov. 21 or Dec. 5 in the same arena on HBO, but Williams promoter Dan Goossen says he hasn’t agreed to anything yet.
At least we found out before the tickets went on sale.

World Middleweight Champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik returns to his old haunt — Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall — where he first captured the world title, Saturday, October 3, for the biggest gamble of his world title reign. Pavlik faces two-division world champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams.
Promoted by Top Rank and Goossen Tutor Promotions, in association with Caesars Atlantic City, the Pavlik-Williams world title fight will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 10pm. Combined, these two sluggers boast an incredible record of 72-2 (58 KOs), a winning percentage of 98% and a victory by knockout ratio of 80 percent.
Tickets, priced at $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50, go on sale tomorrow via ticketmaster.