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Pavlik eyes big fight next
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Kelly Pavlik works with trainer Robert Garcia at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in preparation for his upcoming 10-round super middleweight bout against Will Rosinsky of New York.
By Joe Scalzo
At this point five years ago, Kelly Pavlik was coming off the biggest win of his career and was headed for his first title fight.
After two wins over unheralded opponents in the last three months — and, presumably, another on the way — the question is, how far away is the current Pavlik from the 2007 version?
“Let’s see how he does in this fight,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Pavlik’s promoter. “He was on a roll in those days. It was one success after another and we hope to replicate that now.
“We expect him to do real well in this fight and then we’re going to step up to a much bigger fight in the fall. One step at a time.”
Pavlik (39-2, 34 KOs) will meet Will Rosinsky (16-1, 9 KOs) in a 10-round super middleweight bout on July 7 at the outdoor Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
The bout will be aired on HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” at 10 p.m. and is the first of two televised fights, with super bantamweight Nonito Donaire facing Jeffrey Mathebula in a 12-round title fight to follow Pavlik’s fight.
The Rosinsky bout is the latest step in Pavlik’s comeback, “and we do call it a comeback because of all the changes he’s made,” said his co-manager, Cameron Dunkin.
“This fight presented itself and it showed a lot about Kelly and his character that he jumped on the fight in five minutes,” Dunkin added. “That told me the drive he has in him, how bad he wants it again.
“That’s like the old Kelly.”
After fighting just once in two years, Pavlik is heading toward his third fight in just over three months. He TKO’d Aaron Jaco in the second round on March 31, then beat Scott Sigmon by seventh-round TKO on June 8.
If Pavlik beats Rosinsky, who represents a minor step-up in competition from Jaco and Sigmon, Arum said he will look to arrange a title fight in the fall.
“HBO wants him for a big fight in the fall,” Arum said. “The question is who’s available and it’s all the usual suspects. We’ll see who the best opponent is.”
Pavlik has been vocal about wanting to fight Carl Froch, who is coming off a fifth-round TKO over Lucian Bute for the IBF title. Froch is generally considered the second-best super middleweight in the world behind Andre Ward, who defeated Froch by unanimous decision in December’s finale of the Super Six tournament on Showtime.
“There’s a lot of opportunities out there,” said Pavlik. “Whatever big fight opens up first, I’m game for.”