Kelly Pavlik should hire J. Mayweather or E. Steward right now rather than too late

A few of us has been saying ever since the Bernard Hopkins fight that a change in Kelly Pavlik's corner would not only help to correct some mistakes that made B-Hop's and Martinez' job a lot easier, but a veteran pro trainer could bring out some unexplored potential I believe the Youngstown hero still has in him. I understand that boxer-trainer relationships are deep and complicated for fight fans to suggest a change from the outside, and a change is always risky, but you don't have to be an insider to notice the lack of a working relationship when it matters the most, when everything is going the wrong way. The problem is not that Pavlik lost to Hopkins and Martinez, but how he lost and how the corner never was able to bring him back to the fight from a certain point, and here I'am asking Pavlik fans to accept that by the time the cut opened in the Martinez fight, the fight was over, Kelly didn't have a clue how to stop a completely changed Martinez jumping right on him with a zillion punches from all angles. From that point, just like after R1 vs. Hopkins, the corner looked stunned and clueless. I don't blame them for making excuses to the media afterwards, but they should admit at least to themselves that there are serious problems with the corner and Pavlik might have more potential than Jack Loew can handle.

That is exactly what Mike Pavlik is suggesting in a recent interview and was quoted saying that his son "needs new tutelage. I mean, he’s only 28; I feel right now he’s in the prime of his life and we’ve become one-dimensional and predictable and these are the things I feel have to be worked on. That Kelly has to bring in an Emanuel Steward or somebody to work on some of the aspects that he had earlier in his career that he got away from. Evidently, they’re not being addressed over the last five, six fights. That’s just my opinion. It’s not coming from Kelly. That’s solely me.

I’m not bad-mouthing Jack. It’s not that Jack has done anything wrong; Jack has reached a plateau that he’s never been before. He doesn’t know what to do. This is my personal opinion. But it is also my opinion- unless Kelly decides it- we’re not getting rid of Jack, just bring somebody in to work with him. I won’t be part of that anymore. I won’t even attend a fight unless there’s some changes."

While conflicts inside a fighter's team are never good and can distract the boxer, Mike Pavlik seems to understand that at this stage of his son's career, there are certain changes necessary if Kelly wants to work his way back to the top, and hopefully it will lead to a change. Steward is the obvious choice as their style seem to be a perfect match, Kelly has a good solid skill level and knowledge of boxing built around the jab that sets up an awesome right hand, and Manny can make the necessary adjustments and teach certain things to bring the best out of Kelly without chaning too much. Steward would be Bob Arum's choice as well I believe as Manny and Cotto seem to be a great team. But it doesn't have to be a singe trainer to think about, Jeff Mayweather for example should be a coach to consider. I like what I see from Jeff, the adjustments he made with a raw Celestino Caballero, who looked very very hard to beat recently. While Loew argues that Kelly only needs a nutritionist, Mike Pavlik seems to understand that a "technicionist" is even more important, someone with a lot of championship experience, old school knowledge and excellent strategic thinking, and a change of environment could only help Kelly to focus on this new chapter.

It's not that hard to see that there's a hell lot more on the positive side of hiring a veteran teacher with the small risk of the new team not working out than staying with the current formation and not correcting certain things that makes Pavlik a flawed top fighter. This is the 2nd chance for Kelly to pull his career together and came back as an improved fighter, and now is the right time to make the correct decision, because I afraid a 3rd time will be too late. There's much for Kelly to do in boxing, he just needs to look after his best interest, since he's the one getting into a fist-fight.