Boxing's version of the home run derby will be contested in July when knockout artists Kelly Pavlik and Edison Miranda meet in a middleweight bout on HBO.

Pavlik is 30-0 with 27 knockouts, including 19 in the first or second round. Miranda is 28-1 with 24 knockouts, 20 in the first two rounds.

"Two of the hardest punchers in any division anywhere," promoter Bob Arum said.

Both fighters are chasing middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, who has a May 19 fight against former "Contender" star Sergio Mora. But Taylor is showing little interest in either of them -- there is talk he will meet former light heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. at a catch weight of 170 pounds should he get past Mora.

So Pavlik and Miranda have opted to fight each other.

Pavlik said he wasn't impressed by Miranda's unanimous decision over Allan Green on March 3, claiming Green didn't want to fight.

But he saved his true wrath for Taylor, complaining that he won't give him a title shot despite the fact that Pavlik has long been considered the top man in the division aside from the titleholders.

He supposedly earned the WBC title shot when he stopped Jose Luis Zertuche in January.

"Jermain is a big guy and he's out there looking to fight guys who can't punch," Pavlik said. "He's fought junior middleweights who moved up and weren't really a threat to him. He's being careful who he fights.

"They can say what they want, but Winky Wright wouldn't beat most legitimate middleweights. He doesn't have the power to keep them off him. But he backed Jermain up all night when they fought. Kassim Ouma couldn't knock out welterweights, and he had Jermain going backward. What's he going to do when he meets a puncher?"

Pavlik's handlers have a similar concern about him because of his frequently loose defense. Manager Cameron Dunkin has had numerous conversations with Pavlik and his father, Michael, about bringing a veteran trainer in to assist trainer Jack Loew.

Dunkin hopes to add Bozey Ennis to Pavlik's team. Dunkin said he thinks Ennis is the best trainer in the game and pointed to the improvements that Anthony Thompson and Demetrius Hopkins have made under his tutelage.

"Anthony is a completely different fighter now," Dunkin said. "And Demetrius Hopkins used to be terrible before Bozey got him. Look what he's doing now."

Pavlik said he is happy with Loew but is open to bringing in another trainer who might be able to help tighten his defense.

"I'm the kind of guy who is receptive to learning and getting better, and if doing that will make me better, I'm all for it," Pavlik said.

Arum said no site or date has been finalized for Pavlik-Miranda, though he will try to make a deal with Gund Arena in Cleveland. Pavlik is from nearby Youngstown, Ohio, and would be a natural draw there.

• ARCE EXCITED -- Jorge Arce came to the ring on the back of a horse for his Jan. 27 super flyweight bout with Julio Ler, but that was the highlight of the night, unfortunately.

Ler did little but cover up on the ropes, and Arce, one of the most colorful personalities in a sport filled with characters, was visibly frustrated by Ler's unwillingness to fight.

Arce will meet Christian Mijares for the WBC super flyweight belt April 14 in San Antonio in a bout that promises to be much more exciting than Arce's previous fight.

Mijares is known as a boxer, but he has vowed to meet Arce head on.

"I expect a better fight because (Mijares) will come to fight, but let me be honest: How could it be worse?" Arce said. "It's sad when the fans come out to see two guys fight and you get that, but I don't think you'll see that anymore."

Because of his aggressive style and wry sense of humor, Arce has quickly become the face of the lower weight classes.

As a result, he is being called out by many of the other top fighters in the weights around him because they see a big payday.

IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan has been chasing Arce and has taken to calling him "Farce" because Arce has resisted his challenges.

But Darchinyan is promoted by Gary Shaw, who is suing Arce promoter Arum, and he won't do business with Shaw while the suit is pending.

Although a bout with Darchinyan might set financial records for the weight class, Arce probably will fight super flyweight champion Martin Castillo if he beats Mijares.

• SPARRING PARTNER -- Oscar De La Hoya has a high-profile sparring partner as he prepares for his May 5 super welterweight title fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden.

According to ESPN.com, welterweight champion Sugar Shane Mosley, coming off an impressive performance against Luis Collazo, will serve as the Golden Boy's No. 1 sparring partner.

• TOUR A HIT -- Mayweather publicist Kelly Swanson said the nine-day, 11-city promotional tour that Mayweather and De La Hoya made last month brought out 150 television cameras, 200 still photographers, more than 200 print reporters and more than 20,000 fans.

"I have never seen anything like it," said Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy Promotions chief executive officer.

In Las Vegas, the news conference was in the lobby of the MGM Grand, and several hundred fans gathered.

Mayweather was greeted warmly, with no boos. De La Hoya received louder cheers than Mayweather, but he also heard boos that were just as loud as the cheers.

• TIDBITS -- Former undisputed welterweight champion Zab Judah will return from his year-long punishment from the Nevada Athletic Commission when he fights Ruben Galvan on April 13 in Tunica, Miss. Judah had his license revoked for his actions in a 10th-round brawl during a fight with Mayweather. ... Mandalay Bay is the front-runner to land the Taylor-Mora fight. The tentative date is May 19.