LAS VEGAS ? Kelly Pavlik knows the only way the one topic he doesn’t want to talk about anymore will disappear is with a strong showing tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Pavlik did his best Thursday to bob and weave his way around questions about his recent battle with alcoholism, posed by media members who have descended on Las Vegas to cover the megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley. Pavlik will face off against undefeated Alfonso Lopez on the undercard.
He politely told one reporter he’s not answering anymore questions on the issue before his first fight in Las Vegas since a 2008 unanimous decision over Jermain Taylor.
But on Las Vegas’ ESPN radio affiliate, Pavlik admitted he’s a recovering alcoholic.
“I never said I wasn’t an alcoholic. Obviously, I went to rehab because I accepted that fact,” Pavlik said on air. “It’s the story, it’s what people want to hear. But now around fight time, it’s kind of like, ‘Hey, guys, this kid is fighting, too. Enough.’ “
Tonight, when Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs) enters the ring for the first time since his April 2010 loss to Sergio Martinez that stripped him of his WBO and WBC middleweight titles, none of the outside chatter will matter.
“I feel great. I’m completely focused right now with the fight so close,” Pavlik said Friday afternoon after weighing in at 170 pounds for his catch-weight bout against Lopez, who registered at 169.
The 10-round nontitle fight is still being billed as a super middleweight (168-pound limit) bout.
“The atmosphere and everything that’s going on surrounding my story doesn’t matter. I’m completely concentrated on my fight,” the Youngstown native said.
While Pavlik prefers to be tight-lipped about the events that have transpired in the past year — which included a two-month stay in a Betty Ford clinic for a well-publicized battle with alcoholism — members of the “Ghost’s” camp commend their boxer’s character.
“If you’re an alcoholic and have a problem with alcohol the only way you’re going to stop that problem in addition to going to rehab is to own up to it. And that’s what he’s done,” Pavlik’s Top Rank promoter, Bob Arum, said. “It takes a lot of guts for people to shake any addiction.”
“We have great, great admiration and love for Kelly Pavlik. We believe he is getting his life together and can become better than he’s ever been.”
It’s been two and a half years since the then-undefeated Pavlik saw his perfect record blemished in an upset by 43-year-old Bernard Hopkins.
Then, a severe staph infection and subsequent loss to Martinez pushed Pavlik into a depressed state, according to his dietitian, Dr. Gregory Blackman.
“The alcohol is a result of losing that fight,” Blackman said. “But now he’s in the best possible place he can be in.”
Here he’s very quiet, he’s very humble and he means business.”
Pavlik’s longtime trainer Jack Loew agrees with Blackman and quickly dismisses any notions that Lopez will replicate the styles of either Hopkins or Martinez.
“Because those are our only two losses on our record, people are saying they’re going to pull the page out of the Hopkins and Martinez book. He’s not Hopkins and he’s not Martinez,” Loew said.
“I’m not taking anything away from Lopez because we worked our butts off for him. He’s a big strong kid, who in my opinion really only knows how to fight one way. This is the first time he’s ever been on this kind of stage, coming out with 19,000 people, and I think everything is gonna change.”
The 21-0 Lopez, naturally, disagrees.
“I did what I had to do in the gym. I’m here to win and I can’t wait for Saturday night,” said the Cowboy-hat wearing Texan.
Neither can Pavlik’s website administrator (teampavlik.com) and longtime boxing team member Noel Salwan, who is banking on a change for the better, as Pavlik is a perfect 10-0 in Las Vegas.
“There are a lot of variables at play, but sometimes certain situations create unique opportunities. I think this situation, where he’s on the undercard of the best fighter on the planet can actually be beneficial,” Salwan said.
“More people are gonna see Kelly Pavlik fight [Saturday] night than anytime in his career, and I know he’s taking this huge opportunity to heart. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kelly come out and put on a heck of a show.”
