Pavlik strong F-O-Y candidate

He was the underdog
in two of three fights
but buzzed through a
murderer’s row in 2007.

VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — The awards, even though unofficial, continue to pour in for Youngstown middleweight and world champion Kelly Pavlik.

As boxing experts around the country weigh in on the best of 2007, Pavlik’s name consistently comes up as candidate for fighter of the year.

And, his exciting knockouts of Edison Miranda and Jermain Taylor have garnered a lot of support as the fights of the year.

George Willis of the New York Post selected Pavlik as his fighter of the year.

Willis wrote: “The Ghost rose out of Youngstown, Ohio, and scored three wins-all by knockout-in 2007. Behind a powerful right hand he went from contender to world middleweight champion, dropping Jermain Taylor in the seventh-round in Atlantic City last September.

“… Pavlik, meanwhile, is on his way to becoming a folk hero. He began the year winning the NABF title and then blasted out Edison Miranda before surviving a second round knockdown to dethrone Taylor. Now the Midwest is interested in boxing again.

“The choice here is Pavlik. [Floyd] Mayweather [Jr.] did great things for the sport and his performance against [Ricky] Hatton was magnificent. [Henry] Cotto, meanwhile, erased any doubt about his skill and courage. But Pavlik won three important fights all by knockout and the award is based on a fighter’s performance throughout the year inside the ring. No one was more devastating each time he put on gloves than Pavlik.”

HBO’s Nat Gottlieb selected Pavlik’s title-winning fight over Taylor as his fight of the year.

Gottlieb wrote: “… for sheer drama and significance, none quite matched the classic showdown in September between reigning middleweight champion Jermain Taylor and unbeaten knockout artist Kelly Pavlik. It was a highly-anticipated fight with several subplots, and lived up to its billing.”

Gottlieb also named Pavlik his fighter of the year.

“Pavlik’s three knockout victories in 2007 really ignited fans and shook up the entire middleweight division. Boxing now has a young 25-year-old champion with the kind of thunder in his hands that fans flock to see. At 6-foot-21⁄2, he also has the potential to fill out his gangly frame and move up one or two more divisions at some point and shoot for more titles. For sheer excitement, and the possibility of super stardom looming, Kelly Pavlik (32-0) earned Fighter of the Year.”

Gottlieb also named Cameron Dunkin, one of Pavlik’s managers, as manager of the year.

Steve Kim of maxboxing.com also named Pavlik his fighter of the year.

Wrote Kim: “Not only did he capture the middleweight crown, he seems to have captured the hearts of those in the Midwest, who long ago seemed to have forgotten about boxing.”

And Kim named Jack Loew trainer of the year.

“He doesn’t have a laundry list of champions like many other trainers, but there is something to be said about developing a fighter from scratch, like he did with Pavlik,” wrote Kim.

David A. Avila of thesweetscience.com named Pavlik his fighter of the year.

Avila wrote: “Simply because he was not supposed to win two of three fights but buzzed through a murderer’s row with a single-mindedness and a monster of a right hand.”