Kelly Pavlik to Paul Williams: 'I Want to Make Our Fight Happen'

Given a few moments alone for a man-to-man talk with Paul Williams, reigning WBO and WBC middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik said, "I would tell him that I want to make our fight happen, but I want to take care of business on [Dec. 19]."

"I'm not looking past Miguel Espino, who is a great fighter, with a great chin and great endurance," said Pavlik, referring to the man against whom he'll defend his 160-pound belts on Saturday night before his hometown fans at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio. "But after this fight, let's make it happen. That's exactly what I would tell [Williams.]."

The reputation of Pavlik (35-1, 31 knockouts) has taken a beating since the cancellation of his scheduled Dec. 5 fight with Williams (38-1, 27 KOs), a two-time welterweight (147 pounds) and one-time junior middleweight (154) champ, due to a MRSA staph infection on the left knuckle of Pavlik's forefinger.

But the 27-year-old former undisputed middleweight titlist will look to restore any lost luster with a statement performance against the 29-year-old Espino (22-2-1, nine KOs) in what will be the fourth defense of his crown, but only his second time fighting as champion in his native Youngstown.

Pavlik's promoter, Bob Arum, has indicated that he would love to sign Williams for a bout with Pavlik under the conditions of the old contract, a contest that would take place during February, March or April.

"Our main goal is to go out there and to look sharp and come away with a victory," said Pavlik, who is in the ring for the first time since February's ninth-round knockout of Marco Antonio Rubio in Youngstown.

"I think it's very important, but it's a lot to do, coming off of this [10 month] layoff," said Pavlik, who dethroned Jermain Taylor as undisputed champion by seventh-round knockout in September 2007. "But I think that would be definitely a thing that would be great for my career for this fight and for future fights."

During an interview with FanHouse on Thursday afternoon, Pavlik discussed the questionable future of Taylor, as well as how his career was adversely affected, first by an August 2008 loss to Bernard Hopkins at 170 pounds, and the non-fight with Williams:

FanHouse: What would you say to Paul Williams if you and he were alone in a room together?

Kelly Pavlik: First of all, I would tell him to quit wanting to be the most-feared fighter.

He knows exactly that I wanted to fight him, and they made the negotiations and the fight unrealistic over a year ago. That's why I wound up jumping up two weight classes to fight Bernard Hopkins instead.

I think what I showed is that I'm not scared to fight a kid coming up from junior middleweight [Williams] when I'm jumping up two weight classes to fight a guy like Bernard Hopkins.

The last fight that we were supposed to have, I signed the contract a month before Williams did because, again, 'The Most Feared Fighter in Boxing,' the negotiations weren't right him.

They were trying to do anything and everything possible to get out of it. We asked them to push it back for four weeks or a month or a month and a half. They didn't want to do that.

Then I get a phone call that I have to make a mandatory [defense or be stripped.] What I would pretty much tell him is that, 'Hey, I want to make this fight happen,' but I'm going to take care of business on Dec. 19.

FH: What would you tell Williams about the staph infection?

Pavlik: I don't really have to explain much on the medical condition. The doctors are from the Cleveland Clinic, which is probably one of the No. 1 or No. 2 best hospitals in the country.

I don't think a [doctor] like that is going to lie about a staph infection. It's [the infection] been clinically documented, and it's a proven fact.

I wouldn't even have to get into that situation with him. I would just tell him to quit these claims and take the fight [with me.]

FH: What do you want your fans to know about your life since winning the title from Jermain Taylor, and also since losing to Bernard Hopkins?

Pavlik: It's been a long, long year. Most fighters only fight once or twice a year at the top level. How many times does [Manny] Pacquiao fight a year? How many times did [Oscar] de La Hoya and them guys fight a year?

I was fighting three times a year, which is a lot for a guy at a championship level when you're fighting 12 rounds, and you're going eight weeks of training camp.

But God forbid if you have a mishap medical-wise. A few of the fans turned a little bit. The only thing that I can say is that it's been documented and it's been out there about my hand problems.

I came up against Edison Miranda, who a lot of people didn't want to fight at all. I fought Jermain Taylor twice when I could have taken an easy tuneup in-between.

But I didn't. I came back and fought him again. Then I fought Gary Lockett. Then after Lockett I went up two weight classes to fight Bernard Hopkins, and then I fought Rubio.

So there were two fighters out of all of them guys that were mandatories that I took. So it's not the fact of being afraid or dodging anybody.

I think for the fans that are out there who don't know the whole story, it may be surprising that I'm not afraid to take these big fights.

We want them more than anything. After this fight, maybe that's where we'll be able to take it.

FH: How much pressure is there on you coming back home and fighting for the second time as a champion against Miguel Espino?

Pavlik: Being at that level, starting with the Miranda fight, and of course the Taylors' and the Hopkins' and then fighting at home in February, the pressure -- once you get that experience -- you know how to deal with all that.

There's really no more pressure. That's out the window. Nobody else is getting in that ring. I have to toss that all out of the ring. I've got to go in there and focus on what our gameplan is, what we've studied, and what we broke down on film.

That's what I've got to do on fight night. As far as expectations, I could probably box and not get hit one time and certain people are still going to say that it wasn't a good fight and I wasn't impressive.

It is what it is, and people are going to say what they want to say. The main thing is to go out there and to keep winning.

FH: There are many who believe Jermain Taylor should retire, having been stopped three times and lost four of his past five fights. Being the first person to stop him, what is your take on his situation and what would you say to him?

Pavlik: I'm not sure what my knockout did. It was a brutal knockout and sometimes fighters don't recoup after something like that.

Against Carl Froch, even if he would have taken a knee, collected himself, got a little bit of his legs back, he was still up far enough on the cards to have won the fight.

Even with [Arthur] Abraham, I had him winning the first six rounds against Abraham. But then, it seemed like he went into that survival mode.

It was almost like he was gun-shy and he wound up getting knocked out again with a minute and a couple seconds left in that last round.

It's hard to tell. It's not like he's going into these fights and getting beaten up for 12 rounds, or half of the fight and then getting knocked out.

He's going into these fights and he's ahead on the scorecards, and he's looking good, and it's just the last couple seconds, I don't know what happens. He just gets caught.

I don't know if his chin left him after the fight with me? He fought Bernard Hopkins and took good shots and fought a lot of other fighters and took good shots.

We'll have to see what happens to him the next fight. But Jermain has a family, he's a great guy.

To say that he's shot? It's hard to say that because of how good he looked in those fights up until the end of those fights.

But if things like that keep happening, hey, he's had a helluva career, he made a lot of money, and he's done more in his career than it would take five million people to do in a lifetime.

I don't think that he still owes anything. I think that he could go and maybe have another fight, see how it turns out and how he does.

If it doesn't go his way, hey, call it quits, hang your gloves up and you should be set for life and enjoy what you've accomplished.

I would just tell him that, 'Jermain, you've had a great run.'