Kelly Pavlik Fights to Regain Stature

On September 29, 2007, Kelly Pavlik's knockout of Jermain Taylor hoisted Youngstown, Ohio, to the top of the boxing world.

After having absorbed nearly 20 unanswered punches and been dropped by Taylor in the second round, the 25-year-old staggered back to his corner looking like a beaten man.

But by the seventh, Taylor was knocked cold -- oblivious to Pavlik's skyward-raised arms following a victory that was being cheered by his 10,127 partisan fans in Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.

Although trailing on three judges' cards, Pavlik had forced referee Steve Smoger to end the bout at 2:14 of the seventh, improving to 32-0 and wresting from Taylor the WBC and WBO crowns.

Pavlik also had achieved the mantle of undisputed middleweight champion and appeared to have surpassed Ray Mancini and Harry Arroyo -- two previously celebrated Youngstown heroes who had failed during their Atlantic City debuts.

Mancini had been unbeaten in 20 bouts when he lost a lightweight title fight to Alexis Arguello in 1981, and Arroyo, 26-0 when he was dethroned by Jimmy Paul there in 1985.

But two years after that dramatic display, Pavlik -- one of the sport's most offensive-minded fighters -- finds himself on the defensive concerning questions about his viability as champion as well as those about his heart.

Some criticism comes from Pavlik's lopsided loss to Bernard Hopkins in October of 2008, during which he won only a round on one judge's card, two on the other and just three on the third.

But the majority of the backlash stems from Pavlik's pulling out of a scheduled Dec. 5 matchup with Paul Williams (37-1, 27 KOs) as a result of a painful staph infection in his left forefinger -- one which reportedly hospitalized Pavlik and nearly had him near death.

For now, the 27-year-old Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) is focused on Saturday's WBC and WBO title defense against 29-year-old Miguel Espino (20-2-1, nine KOs) of North Hollywood, Calif., which will take place in his hometown at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown.

An emphatic victory over Espino would go a long way toward re-establishing Pavlik's reputation, but it may not do so entirely.

As a result of the injury, Pavlik -- a champion with one of the the most powerful left jabs in the sport -- said that he couldn't even ball that hand into a fist. That was only weeks prior to the scheduled Williams' fight.

But Williams' camp, specifically manager and trainer George Peterson, claimed Pavlik "just needs a heart transplant."

"Kelly had a terrible scare this year. A staph infection is something extremely serious. It is really a life-threatening experience and thank God everything is OK now," said Top Rank's Bob Arum, the promoter of Pavlik, who also earned a decision over Taylor in their return bout five months later.

"We knew what Kelly went through physically and how close he was to not making it at all -- not just to fight -- but not making it at all."




"To have those statements made -- like the genius that trains Williams claiming that Kelly was faking the injury... when I hear that I feel so embarrassed for the sport," said Arum. "I'm 78, and I've put my whole life into this sport. And to hear morons like that talk when they have no basis for what they are saying really makes me sad."

Pavlik explains the injury best.

"The problem with the hand was time-consuming. People wanted to fight and everything was supposed to get done. After the first surgery we thought we would be ready to go. After I got the stitches out, it opened up again and the puss started coming out and they did a re-culture on it and an MRI and it got worse," said Pavlik.

"Finally we were on a new antibiotic and that wasn't doing the job so we went back in and did another surgery and after that everything was fine. The infection eventually went away with new antibiotics. But after it went away, we got a new reaction from the antibiotics.

"That put me in the hospital for four days with a very serious problem. At the end of the day we had two major surgeries within two months of each other and the tendons were coming out of the hand. So we had irritation and stiffness and I had therapy to get movement back in the finger."

Pavlik knows that he will have his hands full with a confident Espino, who has won his past 11 fights, including six by knockout, with stoppages in his last four bouts since losing a five-round, unanimous decision to Peter Monfredo in August of 2004.

"We have great sparring partners that are throwing a lot of punches a round, which is the style of Espino. The only thing with the hand right now is I can't bend it the whole way," said Pavlik.

"But I would say it is at 100 percent. The hand is feeling good, there is no pain and everything is fine," said Pavlik. "After you win the title your career is not over. There is more to do -- more goals to accomplish."