It was Sept. 29, 2007, and there were many within the boisterous crowd of 10,127 who packed into Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall who wondered if their hometown hero, Kelly Pavlik, would go down in the first defeat of his career.Pavlik estimated that close to 8,000 of his faithful had traveled from his native Youngstown, Ohio, to support him. Pavlik could hear them as they screamed encouragement, even as he woozily sank to his stool, having been blasted to the canvas by nearly 20 unanswered punches from Jermain Taylor.
"Are you OK? Can you continue?" asked cornerman Jack Loew, Pavlik's trainer since he first laced up the gloves at age 9.
Although he "was shaky," and, "hurt real bad," from several vicious left hooks and right hands, Pavlik told Loew that he wanted to continue.
Trailing 59-54 on one card and 58-55 on the other two, Pavlik hammered Taylor senseless five rounds later to earn his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization middleweight (160 pounds) titles.
The end came at 2:14 of the seventh round, as Pavlik earned his 29th knockout and 32nd win without a loss.
Pavlik's KO accomplished what none had done before against Taylor, who had gone 24 rounds with Bernard Hopkins, as well as 12 each with former world champs Winky Wright, Kasim Ouma and Cory Spinks.What made the win even sweeter was the presence at ringside of ex-champions Ray Mancini and Harry Arroyo.
Like Pavlik, Mancini and Arroyo are natives of Youngstown, Ohio. Unlike Pavlik, Mancini and Arroyo had each lost his first bout in Atlantic City, respectively. Mancini by a knockout against Alexis Arguello in 1981 and Arroyo by decision to Jimmy Paul in 1985.
This coming Tuesday not only marks the two-year anniversary of Pavlik's seventh-round knockout of Taylor, but also another milestone occasion for Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs).
It is the day that the 27-year-old champion with two-fisted power and unlimited endurance will appear with 28-year-old, southpaw and two-time welterweight (147-pound) and one-time junior middleweight (154) king Paul Williams (37-1, 27 KOs) at a press conference in New Jersey's Meadowlands -- announcing their Dec. 5 clash at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall for Pavlik's crowns.
Pavlik stands nearly 6-foot-3, and Williams, is 6-2.
Pavlik's toughness was partially born of being "ridiculed by black fighters" as an amateur, hence, his nickname, "The Ghost," according to Ring Magazine managing editor, Joe Santoliquito. "They always wanted to face the white kid because they thought he was an easy mark."
Pavlik will be making his third defense against Williams, and is coming off of February's third-round knockout of Marco Rubio before a home crowd in Youngstown [click here to see footage from the crowd of his victory].
This is the first in what will be a three-part series, culminating with a story on Tuesday, during which Pavlik spoke exclusively to FanHouse about the origin of his nickname, the win over Taylor, and his relationship with Loew.
Pavlik also talks about Paul Williams, the loss to Bernard Hopkins, his unique training regimen and the celebrity that comes with being a champion.
Satterfield: Can you take us back to that moment against Jermain Taylor where you had to mount your comeback from the knockdown?
Pavlik: Coming off of the Edison Miranda fight [click here to see youtube highlights of the bout], I knew that I had it in me. That second round knockdown, that was a good shot and I got caught. I knew that I had it in me to bounce back, and I knew that it wasn't one of those things where I was going to give up.
The only way that Taylor was going to win that fight was by knocking me unconscious. Otherwise, I was going to keep on coming. The way it unfolded, the training and the preparation for the fight is what really helped also.
Being in great shape, and having that hunger to win the world title is what kept me going in that fight. It got me back up without giving up.
Satterfield: How much has your life changed during the past two years since beating Jermain Taylor for your first championship?
Pavlik: Well, now, I have a six month old son, Kelly Jr. I already have a daughter, Sidney, who is three years old now. Your life definitely changes, especially when you're coming from a small city like Youngstown. As a boxer, no matter what you do, there's always going to be some type of celebrity status.
Your life changes, put it that way. Everything you do is under a microscope. It's 'if you don't do this, or if you don't do that.' Or 'if you do this, or you do that.' There's always something out there. It changed from that standpoint, and you're always busy.
Satterfield: Did you buy a new house?
Pavlik: Yes, last October. It's pretty big. Got a swimming pool. I'm not a fan of the indoor swimming pool with kids, but it's secure.
Satterfield: So can you talk about Tuesday, the second-year anniversary of your winning the title, and the forthcoming announcement?
Pavlik: We're announcing the Dec. 5 fight with Paul Williams. As far as an opponent, Paul Williams is a tough fighter. He's been doing everything that he's supposed to be doing, and he's out there to get the win.
Satterfield: What type of opponent is Paul for you, and as a southpaw, what does he bring to the table?
Pavlik: The thing with him is that he throws a lot of punches, and wears his fighters down, but obviously, that's my style, too. You've seen that against Edison Miranda, we saw that against Jermain Taylor in both fights. I throw a lot of punches myself and I wear my fighters down and I'm a natural middleweight.
One thing that is going to happen when he is in there with me, though, is that Paul Williams is going to get introduced into the middleweight division really, really well that night on Dec. 5.
Satterfield: Although Paul won 13 of his first 14 fights as a middleweight, you believe that his experience against you is going to be significantly different for him?
Pavlik: Yes I do, because I'm on a different level. Look at the size of the guys he was fighting. I fought a lot of middleweights coming up, and a lot of the guys that I fought were 5-foot-8, 5-9. They had records like, 10-12, 12-3, or 12-4. So there's a difference in the level at that stage.
Paul came up and he fought Winky Wright at middleweight, but everybody knows that Winky Wright isn't same fighter at middleweight that he once was. Winky doesn't have the same power and he's not getting any younger each fight.
But it was a good fight for Paul Williams, coming up in the middleweight division, and he looked good, did a great job against Winky Wright -- better than most fighters have done against him.
But at the same time, Williams just leaves himself wide open, and threw a lot of punches. The test is going to be when you have a naturally big middleweight the same size as he is that fights the same way, hitting you for 12 rounds like I like to do.
Satterfield: Will Williams' southpaw style be a problem?
Pavlik: Actually, I'm ambidextrous, and I write left-handed. I don't think it necessarily helps with fighting a southpaw in general, but I believe that it does for me. A lot of times during sparring sessions, I'll screw around a couple of times and fight southpaw. I have always had a good right hand, and people know that against a southpaw, that can be very key in a fight. A lot of times against a southpaw, you kind of want to take that jab and make it non-existent. A jab really doesn't help against a southpaw, it's the right hands that set it up and the hooks with the right hand.
With a southpaw, what it takes is having the right sparring partners, and you have to prepare eight, good weeks for a southpaw. You've got to be so comfortable with that style, that stance, and the punches coming from that angle, that it's second-nature.
When we train for a southpaw, we bring in someone as close as we can to that type of fighter and that's what we'll do for this fight with Williams.
On Monday, Pavlik continues his conversation with FanHouse by addressing the loss to Bernard Hopkins, his relationship with trainer, Jack Loew, and the origin of "The Ghost" nickname, among other things.
