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Pavlik heads to Fla. for training
By Joe Scalzo
scalzo@vindy.com
Youngstown
Photo
Kelly Pavlik during his last workout before he heads to Ft. Myers, Fla. to train for the upcoming battle in Atlantic City.
Kelly Pavlik weighed nearly 185 pounds when he started training camp a few weeks ago.
It was the heaviest he’s ever been to start camp. It was also the strongest.
“I think this is the best condition he’s ever been in coming into camp,” said his trainer, Jack Loew. “If we have to shed a few pounds with him coming into camp like this, that’s fine with me.”
After spending the weekend in Dallas for the Manny Pacquiao-Josh Clottey fight, Pavlik held his last workout at the Southside Boxing Club before flying to Fort Myers, Fla., where he’ll spend the next four weeks training.
He said he now weighs 176 — 16 over the middleweight limit — so he’s got some work to do before his April 17 fight with Sergio Martinez in Atlantic City. Much of the extra weight is muscle; Pavlik spent the weeks after his bout with Miguel Espino in December lifting weights to get his body back in peak form.
Unfortunately, muscle weight isn’t easy to drop, which prompted the decision to travel to Florida, where the warmer weather will allow him to spend more time outdoors.
“Even if we stayed here, we’d get it off,” said Loew, who has trained with Pavlik in Las Vegas before fights but never in Florida. “We went away before. I don’t think it makes a difference either way.
“It’s just a decision that we made. We were offered a place in Florida, so we’re gonna go.”
When asked what they plan to do, Loew grinned and said, “Lay on the beach, sip margaritas, stuff like that.
“No, we’ll run on the sand and he won’t have to be cooped up in the gym all day. He’ll be able to clear his head, play some golf and train hard.”
Pavlik, who usually weighs about 172 pounds at this point in camp, met Martinez for the first time last weekend. Loew said the size difference was staggering, with the 5-foot-11 Martinez giving up almost three inches and 20 pounds to Pavlik. Martinez said he weighed about 168, but Loew said he looked more like 160.
“He’s just what I expected — he’s a welterweight blown up to a junior middleweight now coming up to middleweight,” Loew said of Martinez. “But he’s a well-conditioned kid, a well-put-together kid and he comes to fight.
“It’s a chance of a lifetime for him.”
Pavlik said he noticed the size difference but said it’s not a big deal.
“For our weight, he’s a pretty big guy,” he said. “I don’t take anything from size. He’s in great shape.
“You can’t just go in there and be confident because you’re bigger than he is.”
Still, it’s a safe bet Pavlik will be bigger on fight night, where Loew expects his fighter to weigh in around 175 after rehydrating from the Friday weigh-in.
“And that’s going to be the difference in the fight,” Loew said.