Kelly Pavlik to be back in the ring in April or May, no opponent yet

By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (37-2, 32 KO’s) is reportedly on his way to start training in California and could be back in the ring by April or May of this year, according to news from Wfmj.com. Pavlik, 29, will be trained by Robert Garcia in Oxnard, California to see if he can reignite his stalling career.

Pavlik hasn’t fought since May 2011, when he struggled to beat little known super middleweight Alfonso Lopez by a 10 round majority decision. That was the only time Pavlik fought in 2011. Before that, Pavlik fought only once in 2010, losing his WBC/WBO titles to Sergio Martinez by a 12 round unanimous decision in April 2010.

Pavlik is currently listed as a super middleweight. However, it’s going to be difficult to see him succeeding in that weight class with all of the talent in the division. But he may find a niche if he can after the weak link Robert Stieglitz, the WBO super middleweight champion, or perhaps pick off Mikkel Kessler if he beats Stieglitz this April. However, Pavlik has to fight more than just once a year for him to do anything.

He’s not been busy enough the last two years, and in 2009, he only fought twice. That’s just not enough for him to really move forward quickly enough to do anything. He may start showing signs of aging if he doesn’t fight more often and ideally, Pavlik needs to try and move back down to middleweight because there are too many fighters at 168lbs that could potentially box circles around him the same way that Martinez and Bernard Hopkins did in their victories over him. Pavlik is good against stationary fighters or sluggers, but the super middleweight division lost the last slugger as a champion when WBC champ Carl Froch was beat in the Super Six tournament finals by Andre Ward. Pavlik would not do well at all against Ward, so hopefully that’s someone he stays away from.

It may be that Pavlik has seen his best days and will never be able to capture another world title. That likely will be the case if Pavlik stays at super middleweight and refuses to move back down.

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