Pavlik has title with name

The Youngstowner fought in various modes, including toe-to-toe, in winning the NABF middleweight crown.
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
LAS VEGAS -- On Saturday morning, Youngstown middleweight Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik woke up with another name: champion.
The 23-year-old Pavlik won the vacant NABF middleweight crown on Friday night when Colombian Fulgencio Zuniga was unable to answer the bell for the 10th round.
"This is the toughest fight I have ever fought" said Pavlik. "I don't know if anyone in the middleweight division could fight this guy at his pace.
"He is the toughest I have ever been in the ring with."
The win will help silence critics, who have said Pavlik (27-0, 24 KOs) padded his record with poor fighters.
Reach advantage
Pavlik, who had an eight-inch reach advantage (78-70) on Zuniga, came out working his jab, tagging him with sharp combinations. But Zuniga (17-2) showed little respect for Pavlik's boxing ability, working inside with an aggressive attack that featured strong left hooks. One of those left caught Pavlik and, although he bounced up taking the count, it appeared he was hurt.
"It was one of those shots that didn't hurt me; it just surprised me," Pavlik said.
Pavlik's trainer, Jack Loew, called it a "flash knockdown."
"Kelly winked at me as he was getting up," Loew said.
It turned out to be a wake-up call for Pavlik, who began to brawl inside with him. Pavlik said there was a comfort zone being inside with Zuniga that he didn't feel when he was in a boxing mode.
"I was more comfortable going to infighting [as far as] being able to get off punches," Pavlik said, "and my power range was better."
In the second round, Pavlik was back on the attack as if nothing happened but Zuniga was still forcing the action by the third round, throwing right-handed leads followed by left hooks. Pavlik, who is basically a standup boxer who works off his left jab with straight rights and left hooks, began scoring with single shots. As the fight wore on, those shots evolved into lethal combinations.
Tagged again
Zuniga got Pavlik in the sixth and seemed to regain the edge in the fight when he staggered Pavlik with a solid right.
Needless to say, Pavlik was impressed.
"I hit this guy with shots that would have knocked a building down and he just kept on coming," Pavlik said.
The fighters traded punches in the seventh, but Zuniga -- who already had a cut under his right eye from the third round -- had another cut open up over his left eye on a solid right from Pavlik.
By the eighth round, Pavlik had seized control, tagging Zuniga with solid rights at will. Just before the ninth round ended, Pavlik staggered Zuniga with a powerful right and it was clear Zuniga was fatigued. After some discussion in Zuniga's corner, referee Robert Byrd stopped the fight, prompting a celebration in Pavlik's corner.
"It was a great fight, one of the year's best, and now Kelly is a star of the ring," said Pavlik's promoter, Top Rank Inc.'s Bob Arum. Arum then turned to Pavlik and said, "Next year will be a big year for you."
Confidence builder
Pavlik gained confidence from the fight, saying, "If I could go toe-to-toe with this guy, I feel could do well with anyone in my weight class."
Loew thought Pavlik's training was the difference.
"This was his toughest fight yet and he showed his moxie by the way he mixed it up with Zuniga," Loew said. "For the folks who feel Kelly hasn't been tested or that he can't take a punch, I have to say those weren't love taps the other guy was throwing.
"Kelly worked his own strategy by going inside against a guy who never stopped punching and heart was something that both fighters showed a lot of tonight."
Pavlik's co-manager and agent Cameron Dunkin said Pavlik will fight an HBO Pay-per-view fight on a Nov. 12 card and will fight a top middleweight contender on Jan. 21.
"Bob Arum liked very much what he saw tonight and now his interest is in moving this kid up among the world's middleweights," Dunkin said.