Pavlik's father: 'We were ready to fight'

By Joe Scalzo

He said he’s not sure why his son’s upcoming fight with Sergio Mora was postponed.

YOUNGSTOWN — Kelly Pavlik’s father and co-manager Mike Pavlik Sr. said his son has a “clean bill of health” and is wondering why Top Rank Boxing decided to shelve an upcoming bout with Sergio Mora.

“Kelly didn’t cancel any fight due to injury,” Mike Sr. said late Wednesday night. “As a matter of fact, he had been loosening up in the gym over the past week getting ready for the fight.

“We were ready to fight.”

Top Rank president Todd duBoef told ESPN.com last Friday that Pavlik had a lingering staph infection in one of his hands, prompting the company to postpone the June 27 bout in Atlantic City.

Mike Sr. said his son did have an infection in his hand several weeks ago, but it has since cleared up.

“One of his knuckles split open and he got a blister,” he said. “It cleared up a week and a half ago and we were all ready to fight Mora.

“Then I read on the Internet that they pulled the fight. I don’t know who in the [heck] they talked to.”

Pavlik’s camp has been mum in recent days and Mike Sr.’s comments were the first to reporters since ESPN’s report surfaced.

When reached earlier Wednesday, Pavlik declined comment on the situation saying, “I know nothing about it. I’m just a boxer. I like fighting.”

Mike Sr. said contracts for the Mora fight were signed and returned almost two weeks ago. The cancellation is not due to a contract dispute between Pavlik and Top Rank since Pavlik is signed with the company through May 2010, Mike Sr. said.

When asked why the Pavlik camp didn’t comment publicly on the ESPN story until now, Mike Sr. said, “Well, because Kelly still works for [Top Rank chairman] Bob Arum. It [the story] was something we had to find out about.”

Mike Sr. said he has not talked with anyone at Top Rank since the story broke. Attempts to reach Arum and Pavlik’s co-manager, Cameron Dunkin, late Wednesday night were unsuccessful.

Pavlik, the WBO and WBC middleweight champion, last fought Feb. 21, osting a TKO over Marco Antonio Rubio at the former Chevrolet Centre.

Pavlik does have a history of hand injuries, although he has alleviated the problem in recent years by visiting a specialist. His most recent incident came in November 2007 when he injured his arms and hands trying to clean the windows in his house, prompting him to get stitches. But his hands healed and he went on to defeat Jermain Taylor in February 2008.

Mike Sr. said his son visited a doctor in recent days and got a “clean bill of health.”

“We were looking forward to the fight,” he said.

The bout with Mora was expected to be a precursor to a larger bout with Arthur Abraham late next fall. Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) and Abraham (29-0, 23KOs), the IBF champion, are generally regarded as the top two middleweightsin boxing.

Mora (21-1, 5 KOs), the former WBC light middleweight champion, is best known for winning the first season of the boxing reality show “TheContender.” He was coming off a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Vernon Forrest last September.

DuBoef told ESPN the company planned to reschedule the Pavlik-Mora bout,

possibly for September.

DuBoef told ESPN the company planned to reschedule the Pavlik-Mora bout, possibly for September.

scalzo@vindy.com