By John F. McKenna (McJack): The two round TKO scored by former undisputed middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (38-2, 33 KO’s) over Aaron “Jedi” Jaco (15-3, 5 KO’s) proved next to nothing. Jaco, who has only five KO’s in his fifteen victories, had boxed only one round in the last five years.

If anything the match with Jaco demonstrates the uncertainty Pavlik’s current trainer Robert Garcia has of how much talent “The Ghost” has left after his spending a couple of stints in alcohol rehabs.

Clearly Garcia wanted to match Pavlik against a safe opponent in a fight that would serve as a confidence builder for him. Those closest to Pavlik maintain that he looks like the old Kelly Pavlik, the Pavlik who ruled the middleweight division before his fall from grace.

Now Kelly has a new trainer in Garcia and has relocated from Youngstown, Ohio to Oxnard, California. Pavlik made the difficult decision to relocate so that he could be with Garcia. It was a move that everyone involved including Kelly thought was necessary. According to Pavlik he left all his demons behind in Youngstown. Garcia has already established a reputation as being one of the premier trainers in boxing and presently handles Nonito Donaire and Brandon Rios.

Pavlik recognizes that this is his second and most likely final chance and that he is fortunate to have a trainer like Garcia guiding him. Kelly says that boxing is fun again and that he has recaptured the hunger he had earlier in his career. More importantly Pavilik is under no misconceptions about the difficulties of kicking his addiction to alcohol and understands that it is a day to day proposition.

Evidently in agreeing to take Pavlik on Garcia sees something in him that he believes is worth the risk. Undoubtedly Garcia will guide Kelly along slowly and hopefully take him back up to the championship level. Although it is still very early in the game Pavlik and Garcia appear to be a good fit and both appear to be working well together.

Prior to Saturday night’s bout against Jaco, Pavilik acknowledged that he would be rusty after having not fought in nearly a year. Kelly is anxious to move ahead with his career and wants to put all the distractions from his past behind him. He is hopeful of fighting again in June and possibly again in the fall against a big name opponent. Pavlik is quick to point out that he is appreciative of all his fans who have stuck by him through the lean times.