No contracts, but Pavlik-Martinez close

The fight, which has been rumored for weeks, would be April 17 in Atlantic City.

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Kelly Pavlik (Chris Farina/Top Rank)

By JOE SCALZO

Vindicator sports staff

YOUNGSTOWN — Over the past three years, Kelly Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew, has seen more than one slam-dunk fight come unraveled in the last minute, so he’s reluctant to say an April 17 date with Sergio Martinez is a sure thing.

But it’s getting closer.

“The wheels are in motion,” Loew said, “but we haven’t got any contracts.”

The fight, which has been rumored for weeks, would take place in Atlantic City, which has become Pavlik’s home away from home since winning the middleweight title there in September 2007 against Jermain Taylor.

Pavlik (36-1, 32 KOs) has since fought in Atlantic City twice more, beating Gary Lockett in his first middleweight title defense in June 2008, then falling to Bernard Hopkins in October 2008.

He also had two scheduled A.C. fights — first against Sergio Mora, then against Paul Williams — canceled in the latter half of 2009 due to the staph infection in his left hand.

Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KOs) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Williams on Dec. 5, where he was the replacement for Pavlik. Afterward, Pavlik and Loew both said they felt Martinez won the fight, an opinion Loew repeated on Tuesday.

“I thought he beat Paul Williams,” Loew said. “I think Sergio Martinez is a much more dangerous fight for us than Paul Williams.”

Martinez, who turns 35 on Feb. 21, would be Pavlik’s first left-handed opponent since he knocked out Bronco McCart in July 2006.

A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Martinez has spent much of his career at welterweight or junior middleweight and recently held the interim WBC light middleweight crown.

At 5-foot-11, he’ll give up some ground to the 6-2.5 Pavlik and he doesn’t have nearly the same power, but most observers believe he’ll have the edge in speed and boxing ability.

“He’s a veteran of 44 fights, so he’s been around,” Loew said. “He’s fought everybody and he can punch.”

The talkative Loew has dismissed many of Pavlik’s opponents but he’s consistently shown a lot of respect for Martinez’s ability. He agreed it’s easily the most dangerous title defense of Pavlik’s reign.

Pavlik’s other defenses came against Lockett, Marco Antonio Rubio and, most recently, Miguel Espino. All were highly-ranked, lightly-regarded challengers.

“It’s going to be one of our more difficult fights,” Loew said. “But I don’t think he’ll go 12 rounds with us.”

Pavlik, who did not respond to interview requests, looked rusty in his win over Espino, which came after a 10-month layoff.

Afterward, Pavlik said he would fight Williams for the same conditions as their Dec. 5 agreement but his handlers said Williams’ camp upped their demands, prompting them to turn to Martinez instead.

Pavlik’s co-manager, Cameron Dunkin, did not return calls seeking comment.

Loew said his fighter has already started his conditioning but won’t begin training camp until the eight-week mark, which is Feb. 20.

“We just want to get the official word,” he said. “As soon as it’s officially signed, we’ll hit it.”

scalzo@vindy.com