Pavlik begins training

YOUNGSTOWN — It wasn’t Rocky training for Rocky II, III, IV or more, and it wasn’t Philadelphia.

But it was Kelly Pavlik training for Pavlik-Taylor II.

Monday afternoon’s hour-long session at the Southside Boxing Club on Erie Street kicked off a succession of five-day-a-week workouts leading up to the Feb. 16 middleweight rematch against Jermain Taylor in Las Vegas.

Under the watchful eye of trainer Jack Loew, the WBC/WBO champion went through a light but aggressive regimen that ended a period of celebration and deserved recognition following Pavlik’s Sept. 29 knockout of Taylor in Atlantic City.

“We’re not changing too much, only starting earlier this time,” Pavlik said of the scheduled eight-week preparation period that will be a week- or a week-and-a-half longer than the training camp leading up to Pavlik-Taylor I.

“I don’t see too much of a difference,” Pavlik said. “He’s going to come fight the same way and I’m going to fight the same way I did. I think we’re going to pick up on some of his mistakes — even more than we did last fight. Another thing is how he’s going to be neurologically, following a knockout like that. So I don’t know if he’s going to be able to take the same punch that he used to, but I know he’s going to come to fight.”