How good was Kelly Pavlik?

I always thought his personal life messed him up more than people think by the time he fought Martinez and Hopkins. I don't see Martinez getting the win v prime Pavlik. Very very good fighter without the demons !

 

Pavlik of the Taylor fights gives Hopkins much more to think about imo

 

Very good but basic fighter.

He was massive for the weight, I wish a Pavlik v Froch fight had come off at 168 I think it could have been fun.

 

Legit champ and fun to watch IMO, too bad he threw alot of it away but everyone got their demons. Wish he could of made a bit more out of his comeback.

 

He had a lot more left to give, if the alcohol didn't ruin him. I too think by the time he fought Hopkins and Martinez that alcohol was the biggest deciding factor.

 

Martinez vs Pavlik was a classic.

 

Ring had a recent edition with pavlik vs taylor featured it was a good article lots of details on their declines

i really liked pavlik but he never looked the same after taylor 1.

he took some hard punches vs him and miranda and still he was close vs martinez til he cut up

really hoped his comeback would take off

 

Martinez and Hopkins showed that he couldn't beat good movers.

 

Great MW.

 

Underrated nowadays, people forget what hot **** Pavlik was for a few years on here, before he went completely off the rails.

 

Pavlik vs Martinez is still one of my favorites. Wish they had an immediate rematch but Pavliks life fell apart.

 

He earned the middleweight championship as dramatically & emphatically as anyone could. A fresher version of Pavlik would've worn down & beat Sergio IMO. Hopkins would've always been a ***** of a matchup for him.

Kelly's still a bit of a "what if" story because of the personal demons. He really needed to get out & stay out of Youngstown for his career's sake, and I think he took Jack Loew further than Jack Loew took him. The lack of discipline & missteps outside the ring took years off his career.

I know I've mentioned it before, but it's crazy to think he and GGG are the same age (only born 4 days apart). That fight could've been made had things shaken out just a bit differently.

 

At his best, he was a very good fighter capable of beating anyone in his era at 160. But no one ever tested his championship heart until Bhop and we saw how that turned out. With confidence at an all time high Kelly was a force to be reckoned with. But in moments of adversity there are big question marks that were never answered. I think his out of the ring troubles were extremely detrimental to where he could have landed in his career

 

Tough large guy with power but he lacked skills. Still the best middlewight from 2007 to 2010 but IMO todays Golovkin, Charlo and Jacobs would knock him out.