Pavlik to retire (April fool)

By John Bassetti

Kelly says he needs his fans at the June 7 title bout

YOUNGSTOWN — It was perfectly scripted and worked without a hitch.

The trio of Jack Loew, Kelly Pavlik and Mike Pavlik Sr. sat with serious faces when the reigning WBC and WBO middleweight champion said he was retiring after his first title defense against Gary Lockett June 7.

“I definitely want to go out with a bang. What I mean by that is that this is probably going to be my last fight. I said I wanted to defend my title a lot, but I think this is going to be the last fight because we did what we had to do. I’m going into retirement after this, so I’m going out with a big fight here.

There was stunned silence by fans and media from northeastern Ohio.

A TV reporter asked him to confirm the statement, and probed whether he’d change his mind.

“Well, if it wasn’t April 1st …,” Pavlik said.

A thunderous 30-second round of laughter followed at the M.V.R. “comedy club” Tuesday afternoon.

It was a good-hearted 160-pound dose of humor at a press conference to hype Pavlik’s next fight in Atlantic City.

“Hopefully, we’ll have a turnout like we had the last time in Atlantic City, if not even better,” said Loew, Pavlik’s trainer who will get to work in the gym starting April 14.

Most of the questions centered around Lockett’s (30-1) credentials.

“We’ve got film and the kid can fight,” Loew said. “I think he’s better than [John] Duddy. I think everybody was excited about the Duddy fight [which didn’t materialize], but I think this is going to be a much better fight.

“This kid stands right in front of you and he throws hard,” Loew added.

Pavlik wants another big turnout because it made a difference in his last fight in Atlantic City — Sept. 29, 2007 when he won the WBC and WBO belts from Jermain Taylor.

“Like Jack said, Lockett is a dangerous fighter who can punch hard with both hands,” said Pavlik. “He has good hand speed and is technically sound. He doesn’t come in and leave himself wide open. And, he has a wallop.

“What we’re going to do is not look past him because he’s gone 12 rounds before plenty of times and he’s in great shape. Like I do, he throws a lot of punches each round.”

Pavlik (33-0) said he’ll be in shape to go 12 rounds against the underdog.

Repeatedly, Pavlik fielded questions about a statement by Frank Warren, Lockett’s promoter, that the middleweight champ “doesn’t have the best of defenses.”

Pavlik responded: “By saying that, he might be trying to get into my head a little and get me to overlook him and think that he’s not on the same level as a Jermain Taylor or Edison Miranda.

“Taylor’s people and Miranda’s people said the same thing. But I think the last fight against Taylor showed that our defense is pretty good against an Olympic bronze medalist and a boxer who had tremendous hand speed. They said my defense and hand speed couldn’t match his, but for 12 rounds, it did. I out-jabbed him, my hands were faster and I hit him more than he hit me, so I like hearing that. Maybe they can find a couple other things I might overlook.”

Pavlik said he’s fought “a handful” of opponents with styles comparable to Lockett.

“He’s a … fighter who comes straight ahead; he’s not going to go side-to-side or backwards,” said Pavlik. “He does keep his hands up pretty good and throws short punches. They’re not looping or wide. There have been a couple guys like that, so this could be something that’s not hard to figure out; it’s just how we keep him going backwards.”

Looking down the road, Pavlik was asked about potential opponents.

“I’d love to fight Joe Calzaghe, if it ever happens,” he said of the light-heavyweight. “He has a big fight [April 19] with Bernard Hopkins, so that will have some bearing on the possibility if he wins.”

Pavlik said he’ll stay at 160 until it becomes detrimental to his well-being.

“I think we’d be able to tell in training,” he said.

Arthur Abraham and Felix Sturm and Winky Wright are other guys Pavlik may want to fight, but he addressed Wright sarcastically.

“We called out Winky Wright a couple hundred times and now that he can’t get the big fights and his career’s petering out, he wants to fight me all of the sudden. There’s a guy I’d love to smack around a little bit.”

bassetti@vindy.com