Kelly Pavlik is in the midst of preparations for his November 13th return to the ring, on the undercard of the Pacquiao vs. Margarito PPV bout. Pavlik and his longtime trainer, Jack Loew, held a conference call to discuss their training, the upcoming bout, and Kelly’s status moving forward.
KELLY PAVLIK: When I am training in Youngstown I stay at my parent’s house. They keep track of my food, etc. It is kind of being away, but it’s not because my wife comes over and the kids come over but I am not at home. It really wasn’t hard to go away this time because we had the whole summer off and we needed to just to get into the boxing mode. If I didn’t have that time off it would have been more difficult. It’s not like I am in Las Vegas or Florida, California, Pennsylvania is just outside Pittsburgh — a two-hour drive from home, but it is secluded and isolated, but close enough so I could come home and see my wife and kids. We come home on Saturday and leave Sunday afternoon.
Weight issues for the last fight…
KELLY PAVLIK: We had to eat but it was the working out the five times a day that made me cranky because it drained me. The weight factor was a huge issue. I was dehydrated and that didn’t help the weight-cutting factor. Then I had to re-hydrate the day of the fight with IV’s. I don’t like to harp on it too much but put it this way. We got to Atlantic City on Wednesday and we were still trying to dry out. We were still at 170 and usually at that time you try to go to a sauna or steam room to sweat out the remaining weight. On Thursday we were at 167 and on Friday morning we were still at 164 and depleted – nothing to dry out. We called a doctor and he said to go into ice water then to a sauna, to try to open the pours up and that didn’t work so we had to resort to running. Starting on Wednesday night to Friday morning I ran 17.5 miles just to burn calories because we couldn’t sweat.
We got a bike up to the room and my wife would wake me up at 2 AM to ride and I would burn 280 calories then go back to bed so my body would continue to burn calories. It is what it is but I can’t blame the fight on the weight because we knew what we were getting into. We knew going into camp at 193 pounds, all muscle weight, we probably shouldn’t have taken the fight with only seven weeks so it all comes into play and it’s as much our fault as anything else. So for this fight there was not much weight training, but when I stay active, my body gains muscle weight, but this time I didn’t touch a weight or play basketball. I just took the summer off and relaxed.
Right now everything is back. The snap of the punches is back. Every time I got into the ring. Before when I got into the ring, it was how fast we could get out of the ring to get to the speed and agility class to burn more calories off. Our main concern was, not training for the fight. The shortest time of the day was the boxing gym training for Martinez.
Now I just get to train. When I get out of bed to eat breakfast, I am staring at the boxing ring. I go the bathroom and it’s the ring. It’s nothing but boxing. The fun part of the week is on Friday nights we go to Wal-Mart and walk around or drive 20 minutes away to go the a bowling alley that has five lanes. We needed that for four weeks to get that mentality and to be able to focus on Vera and not the weight.
We will see what unfolds. Right now 160 pounds is not out of the question. Before I go back to 160 pounds, we are going to bring in one of the top nutritionists out there that has worked with boxers. I want them to say, ‘If you follow my routine, you can make 160.’ Or they may say if I am 160 I will not be healthy or strong. If they tell me that, then it won’t be at 160. First it has to be a meaningful fight. If it is not at 160 it will be at 168, which is filled. That is why we took this fight which is right between, at 164, so we still know what route to take.
I am only interested in big fights. I’ve been fighting for 10 years and was middleweight champ for 3 years. I am not interested in taking tune-up fights. I only want the big fights. I jumped up two weight classes to fight Bernard Hopkins who is the most experienced fighter out there who is still fighting. I fought Jermain Taylor in the rematch at 166 and he was top dog and who was doing well in the Super 6 until the last couple rounds. I am not at the point of my career where I need tune-up fights or stepping-stones. I’ve been there and done that. After we take care of the Vera fight, we will see what unfolds at middleweight or super middleweight.
Bute is a good fighter. I don’t think he is as fast or elusive as Martinez but he is a sneaky puncher and a good body puncher. But he hasn’t fought the top guys yet at super middleweight and when he does that, like Kessler, he can make a statement for himself. Right now he is doing what he has to do against the guys that he is fighting and doing it in good fashion.
Right now everything is good with the weight and Brian Vera is a tough kid and will not back down. We have to go in there and be impressive to begin the road back.
JACK LOEW: We went back to basics. Running and boxing. Everything has been good, the weight it good and we have had great sparring. We are excited about getting back on the mat and fighting at Cowboys Stadium.
Had you been distracted after winning the titles?
KELLY PAVLIK: No, we lost a couple of fights, which all fighters lose. The top guys now have five losses. I had problems with the weight the last fight and that’s not getting away from it, that’s just gaining too much weight in between fights. I have to stay busy. It’s not the distractions; it’s just how you bounce back. I was middleweight champion and that is nothing that can be taken away from me, but I definitely want to get back the middleweight titles and that is enough motivation right there.
Where do you consider yourself mentally and physically right now?
KELLY PAVLIK: I lost a fight, big whoopee. I will say over and over, it is what it is. Great fighters lose fights. It is how you bounce back and I didn’t lose any confidence. I know what happened in the fight and now what I need to do from now on and it is a learning experience.
Is it humbling to be now fighting on an undercard?
KELLY PAVLIK: Humbling? It is what it is. I lost the titles. If I was on an undercard of someone other than Pacquiao I would be a little concerned. Pacquiao is the main guy in the sport right now and there is nothing you can do about that. As long as I am co-main event it is not a big problem.
What weight are you looking at in the future?
KELLY PAVLIK: You take it one fight at a time. Vera is a game fighter and we’ll see how it unfolds. We’ll see what’s out there and make the move from there. The only way to make 160 again is to get a nutritionist, a boxing nutritionist that knows what a fighter goes through a couple days before a fight. He can evaluate me. He may say at 160 I will be healthy or he may say at 160 I may not have the energy that I need. That is what will happen first.
What is in your heart of hearts?
KELLY PAVLIK: I definitely want to regain the middleweight titles but any title is good. Super middleweight…whatever big fights are out there. I was middleweight champ for three years and I don’t want to be in a situation of rebuilding. The fans want to see big fights and that’s what I’m here for and that’s what I want to do. I have thought about Bute and the other guys at super middleweight and there are a bunch of guys at middleweight. You’ve got the IBF champ, you’ve got Felix Sturm and you have the winner of Williams vs. Martinez. It is endless in both weight classes and anything can open up.
Bute is a good fighter but I haven’t seen him fight the competition that is happening in the tournament. He fights like Martinez but Martinez is quicker and moves a little more. He’s a sneaky body puncher and he is winning like he’s supposed to do against the guys he is fighting like he is supposed to do.
JACK LOEW: As long as he can make 160 and be healthy we are fine with that. There are a lot of good fights at 160 or 168. I liked Arthur Abraham fight. There are a lot of attractions at 160. Sylvester and Sturm, but wherever he is comfortable. I still think he can be a dominant middleweight.
Would you have been able to make 160 this time?
KELLY PAVLIK: I think so but we would have had to bring somebody in before I would have made that move. But it would have had to be a meaningful fight too. Taking nothing away from Vera, but it is not a title fight so it is pointless right now.
What about your dad?
KELLY PAVLIK: My dad has been with me my whole career, but it comes down to more than what you are eating. I need a nutritionist. They would know what my body needs for the training I am doing. This fight being at 164, those four pounds make a world of difference. Those four pounds would make a difference of me having to run six miles on a treadmill before a fight. Before the last fight there was nothing left to sweat and I just had to burn calories.
JACK LOEW: We had to get back to basics. We were burning this kid out. We were training four or five times a day and it was because of the weight. We trained more for the weight than we did for Martinez. We beat him down for seven weeks then we killed him the week of the fight. We were wondering what round we would hit that wall and we did hit that wall and it coast us the fight. We have to watch our fights and stay a little active in between fights. As long as Kelly watches his weight and we watch Kelly watch his weight we are going to be fine. He came into camp in good shape and his weight was already down. We are going to need a fresh Kelly Pavlik in there and that’s what we are going to have.
This time we didn’t go 300 miles away; we only went two hours away. It was good for Kelly and myself and the camp went a whole lot better. On Saturdays we can go home to see his wife and kids and leave on Sunday morning. He’s happy and I’m happy.
The last fight I knew we were going to have a tough time in the first few rounds trying to figure him out and we did. After rounds 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 if you check the scorecards we were right back in the fight. Everything was starting to play our way then we hit that wall. It wasn’t so much what Martinez did it was just what we didn’t do.
Much has been said about changing the team…
JACK LOEW: I think a lot of that was taken out of context. They took a minor thing that Kelly’s dad had said and they blew it up. We are 36-2 and we were the middleweight champ and we grew up together. If I really thought that being a friend of Kelly’s and being loyal and close to Kelly that it was something wrong that I did I would have been man enough to ask for help. Everything is going great and everyone will see that there is no dissension in Team Pavlik.
KELLY PAVLIK: That was blown out of proportion and when it hits the media it gets blown up. My dad is my dad and when he said something it got blown up.
Have you gone away from the tires and the chains?
JACK LOEW: To tell you the truth, we did go back to that. We stayed off the weights but have done everything except flip the tires, which was really tough on Kelly’s back because he is such a tall kid. We’ve done the chains and flipping ropes. We did get away from that and more with the weight but we have gone back to some of the old stuff we had done.
KELLY PAVLIK: We didn’t get too far away from it. But you have to remember; some training is made for certain styles of fights. Miranda was good for that because he was a strong come-forward guy and he couldn’t fight going backwards so our game plan was to push him back and to do that we had to be as strong as possible. The same goes for the Taylor fight. We never totally moved away from it but now we are back to the things that build natural weight. Right now everything is great. My snap is back and everything is falling into place.
Do you feel as though you have trouble with lateral movement fighters?
KELLY PAVLIK: As much as I have heard that question, if I had lost to a guy that was a puncher then people would say that I couldn’t beat a slugger anymore. It is a no-win situation. In the middle of the fight I was beating Martinez. I was out-counterpunching him but nothing was said about that though. Opinions are opinions and you can’t change that. I won three national titles as an amateur and that is all boxing. I went to Olympic trials, where you don’t knock people out, you have to outbox them. I outboxed Jermain Taylor, who was a boxer with hand speed and won a decision without knocking him out in the second fight. Then I lose to Hopkins and Martinez then all the sudden Pavlik can’t beat anybody that has lateral movement. When the time comes and we beat another slick fighter we will see.
When was the last time you were co-main event?
KELLY PAVLIK: It was actually the Miranda fight. It is not disappointing. It is Cowboy Stadium. It is going to be a huge crowd and Manny Pacquiao is the hot shot. Right now I couldn’t say I would sell more tickets but if I get the titles back then it would be something different. I have to go in there and look sharp and be crowd-pleasing and go from there.
What about the fact that this is a great undercard?
KELLY PAVLIK: This could be a trend. There have been a lot of great fights in the last year and a half, especially with the Super 6 going on and we hope that the top fighters will fight the their top names. When you keep packing cards like this it is great for boxing. It could be something that gets it going again.
KELLY PAVLIK: Guys get too much pride to go on an undercard. For me I think it is still great exposure. There are going to still be 60 to 70,000 + people in the stands. At home there are going to be millions of people watching on TV and there is going to be the co-main event and the main event. Just because I am the com-main event doesn’t mean I am degraded. It’s something I have to do and it’s going to be a hell of a card. I got no complaints.
