For the third defense of his WBC and WBO middleweight titles, Kelly Pavlik will return to Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall to face former two-time welterweight and one-time junior middleweight champion Paul Williams on Dec. 5.In this second installment of a three-part series, Pavlik spoke to FanHouse about Bernard Hopkins, who beat him last fall in Atlantic City, his relationship with trainer Jack Loew, his unusual training regimen and the origin of his nickname, "The Ghost."
Check out the interview below.
Satterfield: How did you get the nickname, "The Ghost."
Pavlik: There were times, as an amateur, when we'd go to tournaments, like the regionals or the golden gloves. They were calling me 'The Ghost' pretty much because of the skin color. And I'm not going to lie to you, I was scrawny, skinny and had no muscle tone. And if it was the winter time, I was paler than pale, you know what I mean?
It was to the point where guys would be asked, 'Who are you fighting?' And I'd be sitting over in a chair in the corner and they'd point to me and you would hear the giggles and the laughs. But they would only giggle and laugh until fight time came. And then, I'd stop them in the first round with a body shot, or I would just beat 'em up for three rounds.
Once I got to about 15 years old or 16 years old and I was winning the junior national golden gloves, or coming in second place at the junior olympics or winning the under-19s, and I got ranked in the country and my name got out there -- all of that giggling and laughing sort of came to an end.
Satterfield: But you also said that there was another origin for your nickname that involved your brother, Michael, right?
Pavlik: Everybody sees my style now, and believes that I've always been a straight, come-forward guy who relies on my power. But it was different when I was 16, 17 years old. I was a slick fighter. I could hit people, move around and get behind them and tap them on the butt after I got done throwing a combination.
I was really agile. I would half-step or go side-to-side. And my brother, Michael, was watching a film of me after I came back from the golden gloves. And he said, 'Man, you were a ghost in there.' Michael said, 'You were throwing punches and then you're on the side and you're punching them. You were punching them underneath their chin even though you're behind them. You're like a ghost.'
And my defense was real slick. I still have great defense but people don't see it or give me credit for it because I do a lot more blocking with my hands than I do slipping. Even when I got hurt by Taylor, and it looked like he was hitting me with all of them unanswered shots. I was actually blocking them at the last second.
Satterfield: Do you believe, as Paul Williams does, that you had an off night against against Bernard Hopkins?
Pavlik: Everyone asks me what I learned (from) the fight. I did learn how to bounce back from a loss. But I didn't really learn anything from the Hopkins fight because it wasn't me that night. I was also on antibiotics and sinus medication. My sparring was limited to -- and this is no exaggeration -- maybe 15 rounds total of sparring for that fight because of bursitis.
The last training session that I had, I threw a jab, and the kid went to slip it, and the way that he slipped the punch, his shoulder went right into my elbow where it was already hurting. I tried to extend my jab over his shoulder so that my elbow wouldn't get caught, but I ended up snapping it the wrong way and getting tendinitis. My left hand was absolutely non-existent in training the last two and a half weeks.
Satterfield: So how did all of that manifest itself in the ring the night of the fight?
Pavlik: Taking nothing away from Hopkins, the guy is a genius, one of the best and craftiest fighters of all time. But there were some things that I would have done. Like (what) I wanted to do to counter him, but just from my head to my fist, there was a block. I was very lethargic.
Any time that I wanted to get off, it wasn't so much that he was moving out of the way or doing anything special, but the fact that I just couldn't get going. He'd come in and throw punches and combinations, and I wanted to fire back, but I couldn't.
My body, from my head to my fist, by the time that it registered, my hands didn't want to move. It was just one of those nights that a lot of fighters have.
Satterfield: Can you talk about your relationship with Jack Loew and his role in your career?
Pavlik: The relationship with Jack Loew is great. It's father-son, friend, brother, however you want to consider it -- that's how close we are. We've been together since I was nine years old. So Jack knows me, and you could see that in the Taylor fight.
If that was any other trainer that night, when I got hurt in that second round, I don't think that we would have had that sort of communication between that second and third round.
Satterfield: What, exactly, do you mean?
Pavlik: The difference was in Jack knowing whether or not I was in good shape instead of panicking. Another trainer wouldn't be able to read me, or he wouldn't know. Jack was able to read me and to know.
The first couple of seconds after the round was Jack making sure that I was alright. Jack was asking me questions, pinching my armpit hair, looking into my eyes, and then, after that, it was back to the game plan and back to being on track.
Jack was giving me pointers that I needed for the third round, and what not to do so that I wouldn't get caught like that again. So I think that's the chemstry right there with being me being comfortable with Jack, and Jack knowing how I'm going to react.
Satterfield: What do you believe leads to fighters switching trainers late in their careers?
Pavlik: A lot of these fighters -- and it's not just with Jermain Taylor and Ricky Hatton -- but a lot of fighters doing it. I believe it's because one thing goes wrong, or something else happens, and they change trainers. But if you look at it, how successful has that been for a lot of fighters? It really hasn't been.
When you're fighting for so long under one trainer and then you switch to another who changes your style, it's not going to happen in 10 to eight weeks, and often does more harm than good.
Satterfield: Can you address your unusual training methods involving pull-ups on fire hoses, push-ups using chains and the lifting of large, tractor trailer tires?
Pavlik: We mix it up. We balance it out. It's about putting your army gear on and going into a war. With Paul Williams, we're going to add in the tires and the stuff like that because it's a good, strength-training exercise without adding muscle and bulk like lifting weights does.
I've even picked up yoga. [Chuckles] Yeah, I know, it's sort of funny. It's like when I first heard about it, I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me, I ain't doing yoga.' But after the first class, I was like, 'Whoo!' This is no joke. That was a real workout.
On Tuesday, Pavlik talks about his first hometown defense,, training in Youngstown, his fans and preparing to face Paul Williams.
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