Six months ago, Kelly Pavlik was supposed to be the best boxer in America, maybe the best boxer in the world, and the guy who could take on the title as the sport's biggest star in this country after Oscar De La Hoya retired.
Then he lost to Bernard Hopkins.
As Pavlik heads into his fight on Saturday night against Marco Antonio Rubio, he needs to start rebuilding the reputation that was seriously damaged by the way he got destroyed by Hopkins. And he needs to do that not just by beating Rubio, but by crushing him, the way he crushed so many of opponents on the way to building a 34-0 record, before Hopkins made him 34-1.
As Chris Mannix writes at SI.com, Pavlik's reputation took a huge hit from the way he fought against Hopkins. In the biggest fight of his life, he simply got obliterated by a tougher, smarter, better opponent for 12 rounds, and that's the lasting impression boxing fans have of him. That won't be an impression he can shed easily.
So it's good to see that Pavlik's trainer, Jack Loew, understands that Pavlik has to do more than just beat Rubio. Here's what Loew told Setanta:
I think he needs to have a very impressive win, too. Pavlik didn't just move back down to middleweight after taking the beating from Hopkins, he also moved down in quality of opposition by scheduling Rubio. If he were to win a close decision, that would damage him just as much, in my eyes, as his loss to Hopkins did. This is a fight Pavlik needs to dominate."It's an important fight for Kelly. A loss at this point, right now, would be disastrous for his career. We've got to come out firing on all cylinders.
"I think he needs to have a very impressive win."
We'll have a Kelly Pavlik-Marco Antonio Rubio live blog on Saturday night here at FanHouse.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-19-2009 @ 1:10PM
mjohara said...
Kelly just has to win this fight...NOT dominate or crush...WHO puts this kind of pressure (or tries to) on a fighter? The media...The fans.. You guys DO NOT understand how hard it is to keep your confidence up just to believe you can/will win each fight let alone HOW. If you knew anything about the "Sweet Science" as Nat Fleischer founder of Ring magazine dubbed it you would not try to create these "expectations" for a fighter. He just needs to beat Marco Antonio Rubio (who is a good, tested fighter) and have his head in a game plan NOT a "must win impressively" mode
Reply
2-19-2009 @ 3:33PM
horsecreekgb said...
he needs to win period ....... his head was not in the hopkins fight and at this level u must be at ur best everytime out and he simply was never in the hopkins fight...
Reply
2-21-2009 @ 8:40AM
jcwsports said...
He will win. Y-town will not let him lose. 6th round, Pavlik will knock him out. Party on in Y-town. Blue collar, hard working, tough, loyal people in Y-town area and Pavlik represents the best of Y. Good luck Kelly.
Reply
2-21-2009 @ 4:08PM
Stevorama said...
I find this article very unprofessional, kelly pavlik still is one of the greatest boxers in the history of boxing, whethear he loses now and never wins again, the man already achieved more than anyone in the history of boxing from his genesis. Think about it, 31 knock outs, no other boxer has ever had that kind of record, against any kind of competition. Sorry man, your article is crap.
Reply
2-21-2009 @ 7:34PM
bc4brian said...
Looks like this will be a good fight. Can't wait for it to start. I'll be watching the fight in HD.
Reply
2-25-2009 @ 10:15PM
BILL SR. said...
Kelly came thru this fight like a REAL CHAMPION. I look forward to his next, where-ever it is. Y-town and Kelly both Champions. This is exactly how it was when BOOM-BOOM fought. BILL
Reply