Every boxer has a role in the world of boxing, Pavlik wasn't some drunkard who just -did not last!- he got involved in Elite level hard fights, won-lost & reached a conclusion that he no longer can be as Great as he wanted to be, with the big dream of boxing tarnished, alcohol-drugs were there to help him survive the pain of living outside the ring...like an average loser He was much closer to be an ATG, than 99.99% of boxers, so we only can assume his justified ambitions were big. Boxing is the most brutal forms of War & War is the temporary cure for a Sociopath aka some level of sub-clinical Secondary Psychopathy, what you described as bad childhood...Once the warrior is no longer capable of inflicting pain on Sanctioned-enemies, conflict becomes internal within Self-Society. Pavlik career/life is connected to Jermaine Taylor in many ways, Jermaine Taylor beat Bernard Hopkins twice, Pavilk came & beat Jermaine Taylor twice....triggering Jermaine Taylor transformation from a likable smiling boxing figure to a common angry law-breaker, Bernard Hopkins exceptional resilience shows here...He beat Pavlik in an important fight that Pavlik assumed was winnable, he got defeated, but was able to to become a two time Unified world Champion, Sergio Martinez came and ended Pavlik hopes in boxing.
I met Pavlik and his trainer Jack after the Lockett fight. Pavlik was already drinking beers within minutes of the fight. At the time I didn’t think anything of it. Hopkins was all wrong for Pavlik and the weight increase was not good for Kelly. He looked much more ineffective. At middle he was good and if in the right frame of mind I think he may have beaten Martinez. He had moments in that bout. The first fight with Taylor was epic. Truly a great middleweight title fight.
His career would have played out the same as it was. Pavlik was the guy who could not adapt or improve his style of fighting. He was the real brawler who always blocked punches with his face. No defense and no head movement. That fighting style could not prolong your career because you got hit too much in each fight, and the brain damage could be the result. There were fighters who ended up with early retirement with that style of fighting like Ruslan Provonikov and Michael Katsidid.
I agree. He was a warrior but he was limited if a guy did not give him the range to land. He had a lot of heart and he was strong for the weight so he could overwhelm guys down the stretch.
A slick fighter who can box would've eventually exposed Pavlik anyways. I still remember that fight like it was yesterday, what a master class by Bhop. Just made Pavlik look like he was several tiers below Bhop, which he was. I think another slight issue was his trainer, or lackthereof in Leow. He was solid but don't think he had the bag of tricks to teach Pavlik. How many times did he say, "Kelly, you have to double the jab!" in that Bhop fight? Like he had no plan B or C. But Pavlik was a beast at 160 at his peak. Anything above that, he wasn't as formidable. Still was a super fun fighter to watch.
Haha....any people say he was too small at 170lbs against Hopkins (who was older, and started at the same weight).
Yes. It seemed like Pavlik had issues with Hopkins movement. Pavlik was young though. He was not just a brawler. He had some skills. With a good trainer and good sparing, he would have improved in areas where he was weak. That's what the great ones do. He didn't deal with the situation well though. Maybe he didnt even deal with success well. Not as dramatic but shades of Andy Ruiz.
He never wanted the fight with Paul Williams and his excuses where shameful. He pulled out of the fight twice so Williams kept the date and fought Martinez then 2 weeks later Pavlik fought Espino. Quite unusual given that he was supposed to be hampered by a serious staph infection injury. By this time there were already strong rumors about his substance abuse issues and his antics and declining performance in the ring all but confirmed it. He was always going to fall apart he just didn't have the motivation to stay grounded.
We will never know. Maybe a better question is, what if he hadn’t fallen in love with alcohol? I’m guessing it was alcohol and drugs but alcohol itself is enough. He was a big guy for the weight and had great potential. His downfall fought me by surprise. I used to watch fights with my elderly uncle Lou (RIP) and he speculated Pavlik was a drinker when his performance started to decline, long before the stories came out. My uncle was also a big drinker for most of his adult life but was a big boxing fan. My uncle ultimately beat it, albeit later in life. I hope Pavlik can do the same.
No, pure muscle. He seemed gut free in the t-shirt I saw him in. Plus his forearms were heavily muscled and striated. He could’ve easily passed for a NFL wide receiver.
I agree, I thought Pavlik didn't look right in his fight with Hopkins, maybe the weight was a factor but at the time I didn't know about his drinking but it fits with what I saw. At 160 with a head screwed on straight there's a chance he beats Bhop in a close decision .
Agreed 100%. I wish he hadn't bought whatever snake oil Universum sold him. In a different world, we'd have seen him against Pavlik, Sturm, Sergio, and those guys. I'm glad he eventually got his breaks, but it's a cruel twist he didn't get the big fights until he was older. Speaking of cruel twists...his debut was on HBO was going to be vs Pirog, who had been blackballed from HBO until new management decided to bring him back, until Dmitry suffered a career ending injury.
