Pavlik, Loew looking to KO "unstoppable" Hopkins

Pavlik and Hopkins Youngstown rally

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YOUNGSTOWN — Standing in front of a crowd of 500 rabid fans, Kelly Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew, gave a not-so-subtle hint about Bernard Hopkins’ prospects on Oct. 18.

“There comes a time when every dog has to be put down,” said Loew at Wednesday’s pep rally at the Chevrolet Centre. “His [Hopkins’] time is over.”

Hopkins, who ruled the middleweight division for a decade, will fight Pavlik in a non-title bout in Atlantic City on HBO pay-per-view.

The fight’s buzzword is “unstoppable,” a reference to the fact that the 43-year-old Hopkins has never been knocked out.

Pavlik said he would love to be the first.

“That’d be great, awesome,” said Pavlik. “Our plan is to leave no doubt about the outcome.

“We don’t want it to be close on the scorecard.”

Fewer than 4,000 tickets remain for the bout — Boardwalk Hall holds about 12,000 fans — and Top Rank chairman Bob Arum expects the fight to sell out.

The pep rally was the third leg of a promotional tour for the fight. The first stops earlier in the month in Philadelphia (Hopkins’ hometown) and New York City. They came to Youngstown to reward Pavlik’s loyal fans, who have traveled in droves to Las Vegas and Atlantic City for his last three fights.

Hopkins, who usually courts controversy before a fight, has been uncharacteristically respectful of Pavlik over the past few weeks. He said he is a Pavlik fan because he won the middleweight title the hard way, without relying on politics or being the darling of the boxing world.

He even quoted Sun Tzu’s Art of War, saying, “A good general always respects his enemy.”

Pavlik joked that he’s not as good at talking as Hopkins (who sounds similar to a preacher at times), but promised the fans he’d put on a good show.

“I love fighting the best fighters in the world,” Pavlik told the crowd. “You know how I fight, you know my style. Nothing’s gonna change.”