Pavlik returns from Fla.

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

Youngstown

Kelly Pavlik decided to go to Florida for training camp because he thought it offered him the best options to get in shape.

He’s apparently returning to Youngstown for the same reason.

Less than a week after flying south to Fort Myers, Pavlik returned home on Monday, with a team spokesman telling WFMJ-TV that the combination of spring break and inadequate facilities prompted the move.

Messages left for Pavlik and his trainer, Jack Loew, were not returned.

This is the second straight time Pavlik cut short an out-of-town training trip.

He spent a few weeks in Las Vegas in the early part of training camp for his December bout against Miguel Espino, only to return to Youngstown early due to dissatisfaction with his training options.

Pavlik trained in Youngstown before his big fights against Edison Miranda, Jermain Taylor and Bernard Hopkins and has repeatedly expressed his preference for training locally, where he can choose between the downtown YMCA, Mill Creek Park, the Ironman Warehouse on the East Side and Rocky’s Fitness Center in Boardman.

Pavlik spent the weeks following the win over Espino in the weight room, weighing as much as 25 pounds over the 160-pound middleweight limit.

The theory was the Florida humidity would give him a better opportunity to drop the weight before his April 17 bout against Sergio Martinez in Atlantic City.

“The thing was, it’s all muscle,” he said last week, when asked about the extra weight. “That’s what made it so hard to lose.

“I had a little fat on the sides but that’s it.”

Jack Loew told reporters last week that he didn’t think it made much difference where they trained.

“It’s just a matter of warm weather,” he said. “If we decided to stay here, we’d do what we had to do. It’s just a decision that we made.

“We were offered a place in Florida, so we’re gonna go.”

This was the best shape Pavlik had ever been in at the start of camp, Loew said last week.

“Trust me, he’s strong,” he said. “When we catch hand pads and the body shield, he’s very strong at this weight.

“Snapping-wise, he moves better at this weight. I thought he’d be sluggish, but he’s got the snap already. He bounces around the ring.”