Mancini: Pavlik next superstar

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini believes that Kelly Pavlik fought the “perfect fight” in whipping Edison Miranda Saturday night, and that he will become boxing’s next middleweight champion and “superstar.”

But Mancini, a native of Youngstown and the former World Boxing Association middleweight champion who now lives in Santa Monica, Calif., doesn’t think that Pavlik will get to fight reigning champion Jermain Taylor for the World Boxing Council championship.

“I don’t think Taylor will fight him,” Mancini said in a telephone interview Sunday afternoon. “[Trainer] Lou [DiBella] is a friend of mine, [and] they will try to avoid [Pavlik] in every way they could.

“I believe that Taylor will vacate the title and move up a weight class to fight either [Ronald] ‘Winky’ Wright or Bernard Hopkins. He already has beaten Hopkins,” said Mancini.

“Kelly then will have to fight [the No. 3-ranked WBC fighter, Khoren Gevorgyan] or [No. 4 Wright],” or some of the other top-ranked fighters from the WBO, WBA or IBF.

See the complete story in Monday's Vindicator.