Pavlik has a couple more fights at 160

LAS VEGAS — Saturday’s fight had been over for an hour and Kelly Pavlik was finishing up his interviews in the MGM Grand media center when Jermain Taylor’s mother walked up to him with tears in her eyes.

“I just want to congratulate you,” she said, giving him a hug. “You’ve been so respectful to my son and treated him with class.”

Pavlik hugged her back and said, “No, thank you. You and your whole team have been so classy.

“He [Taylor] has a great future at 168.”

Saturday’s bout, which Pavlik won by unanimous decision, was fought at the 166-pound “catch weight,” but it was a temporary middle ground for two fighters heading in different weight directions.

Pavlik will move back down to defend his middleweight titles at 160, either against Puerto Rico’s Felix Trinidad or Ireland’s John Duddy on June 7 at Madison Square Garden. Taylor, meanwhile, will move up to the super middleweight level (168).

“I think I have a couple more fights in me at 160,” Pavlik said. “It took a long time to get them belts. I don’t want to hand those belts over yet. I’m not going to toss them away because of weight problems.

“When it becomes dangerous to keep making 160, we’ll go to 168.”