By John F. McKenna (McJack): Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KO’s) returns to the ring on Saturday night against Alfonso Lopez (21-0, 16 KO’s) on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs Shane Mosley fight in Las Vegas. Pavlik returned to the gym in January after a two month stay at the Betty Ford Clinic. For months before Pavlik lost his Middleweight Title to Sergio Martinez a year ago rumors were circulating that he was heavily drinking and partying.

Kelly’s life was already starting to spiral out of control before his fight with Martinez. A family intervention was required to persuade him to go to an alcohol rehab with the hope that he would take it more seriously the second time around. In a teleconference with reporters after he completed his rehab stint Pavlik fielded numerous questions from reporters about his drinking problems and acknowledged that he had to turn his life around before all was lost. “The nature of alcoholism is that if you allow it to continue it will take everything from you”, Pavlik was quoted as saying.

Apparently Pavlik is in the beginning stages of living a sober life. He has not had a drink since November 2, 20110. The first six months of sobriety for an alcoholic is a major milestone. Going to the Betty Ford Clinic was a major commitment for Pavlik and indicated he was serious about staying sober. He was quoted as saying that he had “accomplished too much to squander it over alcohol” and appeared to be grateful that he had the opportunity to go to the Betty Ford Clinic, which is one of the best alcohol rehabs in America. Normally the nation’s top rehabs will not take a patient unless they feel they are dead serious about cleaning up their act. They do not want to waste their time, effort and reputations on someone who is not serious about staying sober. Trainer Jack Loew said that he was proud of how Pavlik was handling his demons and stated that it was his decision to stop drinking.

Since returning to the gym Kelly Pavlik has a new vigor and intensity that had been missing in his recent fights. He had been struggling to make the 160 lb weight at middleweight for several years and has decided to move up to Super Middleweight at 168 lbs. Pavilik has always been known to be a powerful puncher and he thinks he will take that with him to Super Middleweight. “It’s not like I’m having to put weight on to go up to 168 lbs”, said Pavlik. “I had been having problems for years making the weight at Middleweight and I will still have to come down to the 168 pound limit.” Pavlik, who is still only twenty nine years old, is looking forward to eventually fighting Super Middleweight Champion Lucian Bute, but he realizes that he needs to focus on the fight Saturday night against Alfonso Lopez. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum was quoted as saying that “Lopez is no pushover” and that it would be a mistake for Pavlik to take him lighty.

Everyone knows who Kelly Pavlik is and if Pavlik is able to return to his championship form a fight between Pavlik and Bute would be a fight that boxing fans in huge numbers would pay to see. Pavlik’s co-manager Cameron Dunkin said “There are so many great fights for him at 168. It’s a terrific division. We are wide open and excited about any big fight in the division after we get past this one.”

Large numbers of Kelly Pavlik fans are wishing him well and they are hoping he makes a successful comeback.