Pavlik set to turn on his heat

If Kelly Pavlik beats Bronco McKart July 27, he may get a shot at the WBC title.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- It shouldn't come as a surprise that Wednesday's press conference leading up to Kelly Pavlik's July 27 middleweight fight against former two-time WBO champ Bronco McKart was held outdoors.
Seated at a table on the portico outside Cafe Cimmento on East Boardman Street were the unbeaten Pavlik and his trainer, Jack Loew.
They were in the shade, but only a few yards from the hot afternoon sun.
Was it coincidence, especially since Pavlik and McKart will meet at the Mohegan Sun Casino?
Despite McKart's experience with a 48-6-0 record, Pavlik (27-0) doesn't expect the 34-year-old fighter from Monroe, Mich., to bring any more heat than Fulgencio Zuniga did in Pavlik's last fight in October.
"Zuniga was really tough," the 24-year-old Pavlik said. "A lot of people really never heard of him and he was one of those underrated fighters. I don't know if Bronco is every bit as tough as he was, but Bronco is a southpaw and is a different look and he has the experience."
Pavlik TKO'd Zuniga in the ninth round of a 12-rounder for the NABF middleweight title at the Aladdin Hotel & amp; Casino (now Planet Hollywood) in Las Vegas on Oct. 7.
Pavlik gains confidence
Pavlik certainly isn't taking McKart lightly, but he's confident that, after passing the Zuniga test, next week's scheduled 12-round bout in Uncasville, Conn. with Pavlik's NABF middleweight title on the line won't be the same type of Farenheit fight.
"Once we get past this and win with, I wouldn't say an easy victory although I hope it's easy, we're going to win convincingly and get a title fight, hopefully, in September," he said.
A victory would certainly make the 6-2 Pavlik -- currently ranked No. 2 by the WBC -- the No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger for Jermain Taylor's 160-pound crown.
To combat McKart, Pavlik is in the best shape of his career, training eight hours a day, six days a week.
As it usually is, conditioning should play a big part in the outcome.
"I'm a power puncher, but we're not looking for no knockout because, just in case the fight does go the distance, we want to be in tip-top shape," Pavlik said. "I'm in excellent condition."
The strategy
Part of the fight strategy is pursue the six-foot McKart without becoming too vulnerable.
"With a fighter like him, the idea is to make him, eventually, make a mistake or back him up until he has no choice but to fight," Pavlik said. "Once he starts fighting, that's to my advantage. We'll see, once he gets one on the kisser, how his whole fight game changes."
McKart fought as a junior middleweight and is now coming up to 160 pounds.
"He's a long fighter who is smart and uses his height good," Kelly said. "He has decent hand speed and decent power and he's just all-around solid."
Although Pavlik is a decade younger than his opponent, he doesn't consider McKart an old man.
"Today, in boxing, 34 is still young. It's not old at all," he said. "A few years ago, that was way past a fighter's prime. But today you see guys like Bernard Hopkins in his 40s who is still winning world titles. I think McKart's got a lot left in the tank."
Pavlik said he remembers watching McKart on the USA Network's Tuesday night fights.
"That was probably six or seven years ago, a couple years before I turned pro," he said. "Now I just watch films on him. I don't watch too much of the tapes, but just enough to get an idea of what he's going to do."
McKart has experience
Kelly believes that McKart's experience will be to the opponent's advantage, while Bronco's southpaw stance will also be a bit tricky.
"It's going to balance out," he said. "I wouldn't say it's going to be much tougher than Zuniga, but his [Bronco's] resume looks a lot better."
Also on hand for Wednesday's press conference were Pavlik's girlfriend and their 2 1/2-month-old daughter.
"She's changed my life," Pavlik said of his daughter, Sydney Ellyse Pavlik.
"She's the greatest thing that could possibly happen to me. She opened my eyes to what's outside of boxing," he said. "But she's also a big motivation in my career. Now I'm not just fighting for me, but for her, too -- to get everything she needs in her future."
Standing nearby was Sydney's mother, Samantha Kocanjer.
"We grew up together on the South Side," Kocanjer said of her relationship with Pavlik, with whom she attended Taft Elementary School.
The Pavlik-McKart bout will be the first boxing event to be televised on OLN.
A sub feature will be a 10-round junior middleweight battle between Philadelphia's Anthony Thompson and Mohammed Said of Newark, N.J.