Thursday, June 26, 2003
He faced Dallas Vargas and Etianne Whitaker in preparation for his fight.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Middleweight Kelly Pavlik worked 10 rounds in a sparring session Wednesday as he continued preparations for his July 1 bout against Rico Cason at Cafaro Field.
The flu bug that took him down for several days last week was forgotten and so was the injured right hand that has been a personal bother, both mentally and physically, to the 21-year-old, who will take a 17-0 record into the ESPN bout.
Even the 90-degree heat in the stuffy Southside Boxing Club didn't faze Pavlik, who methodically worked 10 rounds, the scheduled distance of his fight against Cason. If the fight goes the distance, it would be Pavlik's longest bout since he turned pro nearly three years ago.
Started with Vargas
Wednesday, Pavlik started with four rounds against Dallas Vargas of Toledo, a super middleweight with a 10-0 pro record and eight knockouts who also is preparing for a bout on a July 11 card in Canton.
In the early rounds, Pavlik looked exceptionally sharp, working left jabs and hooks to the head and body. Several times he landed thunderous left hooks to the body, but the aggressive Vargas worked a good fourth round against Pavlik.
Next came Etianne "E.T." Whitaker, the veteran from Warren and with a varied contrast in style from Vargas. Whitaker sparred a somewhat listless three rounds with Pavlik on Monday, but Wednesday he was aggressive and mobile, working Pavlik for three rounds.
Vargas returned for three final rounds, and against the fresh body Pavlik had a few lethargic spells, but he seemed to get a second wind midway through the ninth round and in the final round he finished strong.
Strong finish
"I saw a lot of good things today," said Pavlik's trainer, Jack Loew. "[Pavlik] showed a lot of heart, going 10 hard rounds for the first time, and it was obvious in the late rounds that Kelly was tired, but he sucked it up and came on strong at the end.
"His conditioning is great and now we can look forward to the last few days of training for this fight."
Pavlik added, "The first four rounds I felt strong, but I am working with 18-ounce gloves and that wore me down a little. I caught a good second wind which is when all my roadwork begins to pay off, and I was strong at the end.
"I used everything in my arsenal at times today and my hand speed was there from beginning to the end and I had no problem with my hand. It was just a little sore, but that is natural from doing a lot of banging."
One more sparring day is scheduled, for Friday, and after that Loew will scale back on the workouts.