Confidence abounds

By Joe Scalzo

Few giving Pavlik challenger much hope for a June 7 upset

YOUNGSTOWN — Gary Lockett made an appearance at the Southside Boxing Club on Wednesday, although he probably didn’t know it.

Area artist Ray Simon made a large cutout of Lockett with a word bubble featuring Lockett’s now-infamous quote about Kelly Pavlik: “He has been tagged before and with my power, I have a great chance of knocking him out.”

As Pavlik shadowboxed around the ring on Wednesday, he joked, “He’s looking at me. I’m taking him out.”

There are 23 days remaining before Pavlik’s first middleweight title defense and it seems the only ones confident of Lockett’s chances are living overseas — and there’s not many of those, either. Lockett has been pummeled in the press, particularly in the United Kingdom, as a weak challenger who has little chance against the bigger, more powerful Pavlik.

Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs) is clearly confident entering the bout, but said he’s treating the fight as seriously as any bout in his career. He figures he has just as much to prove against an underrated fighter as he does against a champion like Jermain Taylor.

“The public is underrating this kid and saying it shouldn’t be a good fight and I should go in there and blast him out,” Pavlik said. “Well, with everyone saying that and the public saying that, I think we definitely have to go in there with a strong performance and not just beat this kid. I think we have to dominate him from the opening bell.

“If I don’t do that, then the critics are gonna sit there and say, ‘Well, I don’t know if Pavlik is the fighter everybody says he is.’ We have a lot to prove in this fight, not just by winning it but winning it convincingly and going in there and putting on a great show.”

Although Lockett (30-1, 21 KOs) was initially respectful of Pavlik, the Welshman has stepped up in his comments in recent weeks, which has irritated some in Pavlik’s camp, particularly trainer Jack Loew. The confidence may have come from Joe Calzaghe’s recent light heavyweight victory over Bernard Hopkins. Calzaghe’s father, Enzo, is Lockett’s trainer.

“We’re giving this kid the opportunity of a lifetime and he started out so nice and sweet,” said Loew, who was critical of Calzaghe’s performance, particularly his “slapping” style of punching. “Then after ‘Slappy Joe’ [Calzaghe] came back from America after slapping around Bernard Hopkins like he did, then all of a sudden his confidence grew and he mouthed off.”

Pavlik has mostly shrugged off Lockett’s comments, but like he’s done in his last few fights, he’s using them as motivation.

“At first I didn’t know if it’s Calzaghe’s dad Enzo getting in his head or if he got some kind of confidence off the Calzaghe-Hopkins fight,” Pavlik said. “Whatever it was that instigated him and allowed him to start running his mouth, that works to my benefit.

“There’s only two ways to stop someone like that who’s running his mouth and that’s with your fists. Both of them. That’s what we’re gonna do June 7.”

Loew and Pavlik have watched Lockett’s last half-dozen fights on film and came away relatively impressed. Lockett is a “come forward” fighter, Pavlik said, who throws a nice hook and tries to time up his opponent’s jab to set up a big right. “I thought he was busier but the more I go over the films, he’s not that busy of a fighter,” Pavlik said. “He’s more of a counter-puncher. I think that’s awesome for my style because I just go forward, so when he tries to counter all my punches in bunches he’s gonna leave himself wide open.

“You’ve got to be, I don’t want to say cautious, but you’ve got to be aware of his wild punches or his trying to crouch down low and come upstairs with a big hook or a big right hand.”

Added Loew, “The big thing for Kelly is patience. He’s gonna stick his chin and we’re gonna catch the chin. Everything will fall in place June 7.”

That confidence aside, both guys assured reporters that they aren’t taking Lockett lightly. Lockett has knockout power — his 21 KOs are evidence of that — and Pavlik remembers when he was in a similar situation last September.

“He’s definitely coming to fight,” Pavlik said. “This is his chance to come in here after all the years he put in to do what I did to Jermain Taylor.

“We look at that and take it serious. Now it’s not only me against another American fighter, it’s our country.”

Loew said Pavlik is always a hard worker, but sometimes takes a few days to get going in the opening days of training. That didn’t happen this time.

“Kelly’s done everything we’ve asked and more,” Loew said. “He’s not taking this kid lightly by any means. We’ve worked seven years to get [the title] and we’re not letting this kid hop across the pond and take it, that’s for sure.”

scalzo@vindy.com