Boxers’ camps trade barbs before punches

Excerpt from a March 13 exchange between Sergio Martinez’s promoter, Lou DiBella, and Kelly Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew:

DIBELLA: “I think this is the best fighter to come out of Argentina since Carlos Monzon. I think that great tradition of great Argentine fighters will continue and you’ll have a new world champion.”

LOEW: “One thing I can tell you, Martinez is not Carlos Monzon, So I’m not going to worry about that.”

By JOE SCALZO

scalzo@vindy.com

SDLqI think this is one of the hardest fights Kelly has ever taken,” DiBella said by phone Wednesday. “Kelly’s been babied since the [Bernard] Hopkins fight a little bit. His fights have been pretty quiet.

“Here, he’s getting in with a real guy. This fight is a real turning point for him.”

The last time Pavlik’s camp clashed with DiBella, Pavlik was at the height of his career, coming off his second straight victory over DiBella’s best fighter, Jermain Taylor.

Since then, Pavlik has made three mandatory defenses — winning all three by knockout, albeit against lesser-name fighters — and suffered the only loss of his career, a unanimous decision defeat to Hopkins above the middleweight limit in 2008.

That’s why his April 17 bout with Martinez is so important, DiBella said.

“I don’t think Kelly has been able to parlay his success from Youngstown to a national level, for a lot of reasons,” DiBella said. “He’s had a lot of inactivity. He’s canceled fights. He’s had injuries. And he hangs around Youngstown a lot.

“I don’t think he’s become the national attraction everyone envisioned. But if he wins against a guy of Sergio’s quality, he’s got reasons to think his career is back on track.”

Martinez (44-2-2), a 35-year-old from Buenos Aires, made his pro debut in 1997 but is a relatively new face to American audiences.

Over the first 41‚Ñ2 years of his pro career, he fought just once outside of Argentina, losing by seventh-round knockout to Antonio Margarito at 147 pounds in February of 2000.

Martinez spent the next seven years fighting in Europe before moving stateside to fight Saul Roman in Houston in 2007. His last two bouts were against Kermit Cintron, which ended in a draw last February in Florida, and Paul Williams, which he lost by majority decision in December.

Martinez replaced Pavlik in that bout after Pavlik was forced to cancel due to a hand injury. Martinez is now serving as a replacement for Williams, whose money demands were rebuffed by Pavlik’s promoters.

“I don’t think Paul Williams wanted this [Pavlik] fight right this second,” said DiBella, who, like many in Pavlik’s camp, believes Martinez was the better fighter against Williams. “My guy was there.”

Martinez was a terrific athlete growing up, good enough to be a professional soccer player or a pro cyclist, DiBella said. He didn’t fight as an amateur, so he doesn’t have as many miles on his body as other boxers his age. Like Hopkins, he keeps himself in shape at all times, has good hand speed and good footwork. He’s also the first southpaw Pavlik has faced since Bronco McKart nearly three years ago.

“I think if Kelly wins, he’s going to catch him,” DiBella said.

Pavlik’s biggest advantage, DiBella said, is his size. Pavlik is 31‚Ñ2 inches taller and is probably better suited for super middleweight. Martinez is more of a junior middleweight.

“He’s faster, he’s a lefty and he’s a slick boxer,” DiBella said of Martinez, “but he’s really the David in this fight trying to overcome Goliath.”

If Martinez wins, he can parlay his movie star good looks into superstardom, DiBella said. If Pavlik wins, his career will be back on track after a rotten 2009.

“This is definitely one the people in Youngstown should take a drive for,” said DiBella. “By the way, my guy’s going to win.”

DiBella paused, then chuckled.

“Of course, I also said that twice before and I’m 0-2 against Kelly Pavlik, so they’ve got me on that one,” he said. “They’re expecting 0-3 but I think I’m going to be 1-2.”