Pavlik: I was healthy enough to fight

In his first public comments since his fight with Sergio Mora was postponed last week, Kelly Pavlik admitted he did have a staph infection in his hand but said it has since healed and he was healthy enough to fight.

Pavlik said the staph infection occurred around the time of his fight with Marco Antonio Rubio in February. He suffered a small cut on one of his knuckles and he developed a minor staph infection. But that has since healed and recently he got clearance from his doctor to fight.

Last Friday, Top Rank Boxing president Todd duBoef revealed Pavlik's infection to ESPN.com and said the company had decided to postpone the Mora bout to give Pavlik time to heal.

But Pavlik told The Vindicator, "I'm healthy enough to fight."

Pavlik declined further comment. His father and co-manager, Mike Sr., told the paper on Wednesday that they'd signed and returned the contracts for the Mora fight more than a week ago.