43
Pavlik focusing only on Nov. 13
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
For the past few weeks, the Web has been abuzz about Kelly Pavlik fighting Lucian Bute in an IBF super middleweight title bout early next year.
There are two problems with this:
First, that fight doesn’t exist yet.
Second, another one does.
“I don’t know who in the [heck] said we’re going to fight at 168,” said Jack Loew, Pavlik’s trainer. “We don’t even know what we’re doing and I could [not] care less who we’re going to fight next.
“If we don’t get past Bryan Vera, we’ll be lucky to get on ESPN as a co-feature.”
For now, Pavlik is on HBO pay-per-view as a co-main event, fighting on the undercard of the Nov. 13 Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito bout at Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
It’s a steppingstone bout for the former middleweight champion, who knows he needs to regain his mojo before he can think about regaining his (or anyone else’s) belts.
“We’re up here training for Bryan Vera, not for Bute or anyone else,” said Pavlik, who has spent the past five weeks training in California, Pa. “We know what’s in front of us on Nov. 13.
“We’ll worry about the rest of it after the fight.”
Pavlik will fight Vera at 164 pounds, a weight chosen specifically because it’s halfway between middleweight and super middleweight. Pavlik has repeatedly said he’ll only stay at 160 if his camp hires a top nutritionist with a history of working with boxers.
“I want them to say, ‘If you follow my routine, you can make 160,’” Pavlik said. “Or they may say if I am 160 I will not be healthy or strong. If they tell me that, then it won’t be at 160.”
His father, co-manager Mike Pavlik Sr., normally handles Pavlik’s training camp diet, but as the 28-year-old gets older, losing the weight gets harder and hiring a professional becomes more important.
“It comes down to more than what you are eating,” Pavlik said.
A nutritionist, Pavlik said, can taper his meals to specific workouts — for instance, adding protein on the days when he does more strength training and carbohydrates on cardio-heavy days.
“You need a licensed professional that can break all that stuff down,” he said.
If Pavlik is healthy — and he insists he is — he should have little problem with the 28-year-old Vera, (17-5, 11 KOs) who has lost four of his last five bouts and hasn’t fought anyone near the caliber of Pavlik.
Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs) said Vera reminds him of a fighter named Cedric Johnson, who he knocked out in the second round in 2000 in his sixth pro fight.
“He came forward, threw a lot of punches, hard hooks, overhand rights,” Pavlik said of Johnson. “With Vera, I just need to focus on staying down the middle with the kid. Keep my hands up and move my head.
“He fires a lot of big bombs and leaves himself wide open. I need to work everything off my jab and be quick with my hand speed and head movement and not get caught up in his games.”
At 28, Pavlik still has plenty of time to revive his career, particularly since he still carries a big name in boxing and his fighting style is so attractive to fans. Rather than give him top billing for a lesser event, Top Rank put him on the Pacquiao undercard so they could expose him to as many people as possible against an opponent perfect for his straight-ahead approach.
“If I was on the undercard of someone else, I’d be a little bit concerned but Manny Pacquiao is the main guy right now,” said Pavlik. “If I get the titles back, then it would be something different.
“For me, I think it is still great exposure. Just because I am the co-main event doesn’t mean I am degraded. It’s something I have to do and it’s going to be a hell of a card. I got no complaints.”