What’s next for the boxing career of Pavlik?

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

Youngstown

When Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini was nearing the end of his career and was asked what he thought of his opponent, he’d often reply, “Which one?”

“I was fighting the scale first, then fighting my opponent,” he said.

So as he watched Kelly Pavlik’s lethargic finish in Saturday’s loss to Sergio Martinez, Mancini got some unpleasant flashbacks.

“The last few fights of my career, I couldn’t make the weight,” he said by phone Sunday afternoon after watching the fight on HBO at home in Los Angeles. “And that’s Kelly’s problem.”

Whether it’s an insurmountable problem or not, Pavlik has a big decision to make over the next few weeks. He can either activate a rematch clause in his contract with Martinez or he can make the inevitable jump up to super middleweight (168 pounds) sooner than expected.

“We want to give him some time,” said his co-manager, Cameron Dunkin. “We’re just talking positive to him right now.”

Dunkin, along with trainer Jack Loew and co-manager Michael Pavlik Sr., will probably wait until the end of this week or the beginning of next week before making a decision.

“Top Rank is still very high on Kelly; they’re not going to throw him under the bus,” said Loew. “It was just another bad night. He’s 36-2. It’s something you can rebound from.”

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com..