Pavlik to fight in April or May

By Boxing News - 01/10/2012 - Comments

Image: Pavlik to fight in April or MayBy Allen Fox: Former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (37-2, 32 KO’s) is expected back in the ring in April or May of this year and is now being trained by Robert Garcia in Oxnard, California.

Pavlik’s old trainer Jack Loew is out, but it might not matter who is training the 29-year-old Pavlik now because he’s got some serious problems he needs to take care of with his life before he can become a factor again. He’s missed fights due to injuries and with his check into the Betty Ford clinic.

Last year, Pavlik backed out of a fight with Darryl Cunningham and said no to a fight against IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute on Showtime that would have seen Pavlik get over a $1 million. It’s hard to imagine that Pavlik would say no to that kind of money given that he had only fought once last year and looked horrible against Alfonso Lopez in a close 10 round majority decision victory last May.

Garcia is going to have to try and change a lot of things with Pavlik’s style if he’s going to make a champion out of him at super middleweight. Compared to a lot of the more athletic fighters at 168lbs, Pavlik is a pretty basic fighter without the ability to move much and lacking in hand speed and defense.

Pavlik looks clueless when he fights guys that move and don’t just stand in front of him. Unfortunately for Pavlik, the blueprint in how to beat him has been created by Bernard Hopkins and Sergio Martinez. It was followed by a limited fighter Lopez last year and even he almost beat Pavlik. Garcia is a great trainer but he’s only human and can only do so much with what he’s given. I don’t that Pavlik is at the right weight class for him.



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