The gloves stay on

By Joe Scalzo

Both camps were on their best behavior when they met face-to-face Thursday

Kelly Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew, was looking for a sombrero and a verbal sparring match on Thursday.

He didn’t find either.

Loew made headlines this week by tabbing Marco Antonio Rubio’s three handlers “The Three Amigos” and admitted he was hoping to wear a sombrero to the pre-fight press conference. (He hasn’t ruled out wearing one this weekend.)

“If you find one,” he said, “I’ll put it on.”

Loew and Rubio’s handlers have bantered through the media over the past few days, but everyone was on their best behavior Thursday in front of a crowd of reporters and about 100 fans at the Chevrolet Centre.

“They wouldn’t give me a shot at them,” Loew said. “Just like [fighters] have a game plan when they come into the ring and it changes once they see Kelly’s power, now that they see us face-to-face, they’re very cordial.

“That’s fine. I wish them the best of luck but it’s not gonna be their night Saturday night.”

Rubio earlier predicted a knockout victory and vowed to return to Mexico with Pavlik’s belts. His cornerman, Ramon Rodriguez, said Loew shouldn’t quit his day job and that Pavlik will need Rubio to use his nursing background to tend to Pavlik afterward.

There was none of that on Thursday.

“Kelly is a gentlemen at all times, as am I,” Rubio said. “I think the team sometimes gets overanxious.”

Pavlik has grown accustomed to trash talk before a bout, although Rubio had been relatively quiet until this week. Rubio even took a picture of Pavlik on his cell phone at last month’s press conference in New York.

But, like Edison Miranda, Jermain Taylor and Gary Lockett before him, Rubio eventually started making bold predictions. Those three fighters got knocked out by Pavlik, while the one fighter who didn’t talk trash, Bernard Hopkins, was the only one to win.

“It’s all head games,” Pavlik said. “It doesn’t mean anything. If you have to run your mouth and get into somebody’s head and that’s your way of getting any edge on somebody, that’s not a very good strategy.

“Once the bell rings, it doesn’t mean anything. When I’m in the ring, I’m not thinking about what they said about Jack sealing driveways or Rubio saying he’s taking my belts. I’m thinking about how hard I’m going to hit him, how I’m going to counter his punch and how I’m going to hit him in the body so he can’t breathe.”

Although Pavlik will sometimes participate in the talk — and Loew usually enjoys it — neither initiates the sparring.

“I don’t know why everyone throws the first jab at us,” said Pavlik.

When asked if that could change, Pavlik grinned.

“The next fight, I’m definitely gonna do it,” he quipped. “I’m going to start running my mouth before they even announce the fight.

“I’m talking about everybody. I don’t care who they are — from middleweight to heavyweight, they’re getting it.”

Pavlik did predict a victory — he only said it would be convincing, while Loew predicted a knockout victory — and said the fans will see a show on Saturday.

“The only way he’ll be able to take my belts is if he steals them, shoots me in the leg and hits me with an ax in the neck,” Pavlik said. “Stay tuned, it’s going to be a dandy Saturday night.

“I’m bringing hell.”

scalzo@vindy.com