Kelly Pavlik

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Kelly Pavlik
Statistics
Real name	Kelly Pavlik
Nickname(s)	The Ghost
Rated at	Middleweight
Height	6 ft. 2½ in. (189 cm.)
Reach	75 in (190.5 cm)
Nationality	American
Birth date	April 5, 1982 (1982-04-05) (age 26)
Birth place	Youngstown, Ohio
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	34
Wins	34
Wins by KO	30
Losses	0
Draws	0
No contests	0

Kelly Robert Pavlik (born April 5, 1982) is an American professional boxer. He is The Ring, WBC, and WBO middleweight champion, defeating Jermain Taylor to earn those titles.^[1] He has made one successful defense of his titles.

Contents 1 Background and early life 2 Amateur highlights 3 Professional career 3.1 Fight with Edison Miranda 3.2 Bouts with Jermain Taylor 3.3 Lineal middleweight champion 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Background and early life

Known as "The Ghost", Pavlik grew up on Youngstown's south side, in the traditional ethnic neighborhood of Lansingville.^[2] He graduated from Lowellville High School and Mahoning County Joint Vocational School in 2000.^[2] Pavlik has been trained by Jack Loew of Youngstown's South Side Boxing Gym for his entire career. Another assist goes to Dunner, Sepp, Ricky McFadden and Mark Metzka.^[3]

[edit] Amateur highlights

• 1998 National Jr. PAL amateur champion, 147 pounds
• 1998 National Jr. Golden Gloves amateur champion, 147 pounds
• 1999 U.S. National Under-19 amateur champion, 147 pounds

[edit] Professional career

Pavlik turned pro in 2000 and won his first 26 fights before stepping up in competition on October 7, 2005 to face Fulgencio Zúñiga for the vacant NABF middleweight title. Zúñiga scored a knockdown with a left hook in the first round, but Pavlik recovered quickly and dominated the rest of the fight. Zúñiga was cut over his right eye by a clash of heads, and his corner stopped the fight after the ninth round.

On July 7, 2006, Pavlik defeated former WBO junior middleweight champion Bronco McKart by sixth round TKO in his first defense of his NABF middleweight title. McKart scored a knockdown when both of Pavlik's gloves touched the canvas in the fourth round. Pavlik knocked McKart down twice in the sixth round before the referee stopped the fight.

Pavlik headlined in his hometown at the Chevrolet Centre on November 2, 2006 and put on a dominant performance against Lenord Pierre. Pavlik scored a knockdown with a right hand late in the first round, and rocked Pierre repeatedly in the second and third rounds. Pavlik knocked down Pierre again with a left hook in the fourth round and the referee stopped the fight.

On January 27, 2007, in Anaheim, California, Pavlik defeated Jose Luis Zertuche by eighth round knockout in his second and final defense of his NABF middleweight title. It was a fast-paced, exciting fight that concluded when Pavlik landed a right hand that froze Zertuche in his tracks and then landed an uppercut that dropped him face-first to the canvas.

[edit] Fight with Edison Miranda

Pavlik defeated Edison Miranda on May 19, 2007, by TKO in the seventh round. The fight was a WBC eliminator bout. This fight established him as the #1 middleweight contender. Prior to the fight, Miranda seemed to ignore Pavlik, choosing rather to lob challenges at champion Jermain Taylor, who was fighting Cory Spinks on the same card. Meanwhile, Pavlik contended to sports journalists who would listen that he would "back Miranda up".^[4] When the opening bell rang, Pavlik immediately charged Miranda and kept the contender backing up and on the defensive.

During the sixth round, Pavlik knocked Miranda down to the canvas twice. After the first knock down, Miranda spat out his mouthpiece, causing referee Steve Smoger to deduct a point. As the sixth round ended, Miranda seemed unable to continue, but came out nonetheless. In the seventh round, Pavlik trapped Miranda in a corner with a barrage of vicious shots, forcing Smoger to stop the fight.^[5]

[edit] Bouts with Jermain Taylor

In Atlantic City, New Jersey, in front of a pro-Pavlik crowd (approximately 6,000 Youngstown natives made the trip), Pavlik defeated Jermain Taylor on September 29, 2007.^[6] In the pre-fight build-up, Taylor's trainer Emmanuel Steward went on record as calling Pavlik "overrated" and promising a knockout win for his boxer.^[7] It nearly happened, as Pavlik was knocked down in the second round and tossed about the ring for much of that round.

However, using his reach advantage and ability to trap opponents in the corner, Pavlik slowly turned the tide on Taylor. By the sixth round, many at ringside such as HBO commentator Larry Merchant saw the fight even. HBO's unofficial scorer Harold Lederman even had Pavlik leading the fight at the halfway point. Despite this, he was trailing on all three official scorecards. In the seventh round, Taylor appeared desperate as he was throwing power punches that mostly missed the mark. Pavlik took advantage with several power shots to the head, culminating with an overhand right which sent Taylor stumbling back into Pavlik's corner. With trainer Jack Loew encouraging him, Pavlik lit into Taylor until an uppercut sent Taylor crumpling onto the canvas. Referee Steve Smoger immediately waived off the fight, giving Pavlik the TKO win. With the victory, Pavlik became The Ring, WBC, and WBO middleweight champion.^[1] After the fight with Taylor, Pavlik and his father, Mike Pavlik Sr., accidentally left their paychecks in their hotel room.^[8] He was subsequently named The Boxing Times Fighter of the Year in 2007.^[9]

After the defeat, Taylor activated his clause for a non-title rematch, which was held on February 16 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.^[3] The fight was a more tactical duel, with Pavlik wearing Taylor down with continual jabs, while Taylor scored with more flashy, sporadic bursts. Pavlik won the last two rounds on all three cards on the strength of two body punches acknowledged as the best shots of the fight, one of which hurt Taylor. Pavlik won the fight by unanimous decision (117-111, 115-113, 116-112), handing Taylor his second defeat.^[10]

[edit] Lineal middleweight champion

Over a 10 year reign Bernard Hopkins captured all 4 of the Major World Middleweight belts creating the Undisputed World Middleweight Title and becoming the lineal Middleweight Champion. Jermain Taylor defeated Hopkins twice, to take this title. It could be argued that in beating Taylor, Pavlik could lay claim to being the lineal Middleweight champion due to the results of these bouts.

Pavlik made his first title defense of the middleweight championship against WBO #1 mandatory challenger Gary Lockett on June 7, 2008, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Pavlik defeated Lockett by third round TKO after Enzo Calzaghe, Lockett's trainer, threw in the towel after Lockett was down for the third time in the fight.^[11]

[edit] See also

• List of male boxers
• List of current world boxing champions
• List of The Ring world champions
• List of WBC world champions
• List of WBO world champions

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Professional boxing record for Kelly Pavlik from Boxrec
• Kelly Pavlik at MySpace
• Kelly Pavlik fight-by-fight career record
• Kelly Pavlik Coverage from The Vindicator
• Official Web-Site of Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik
• Pavlik Taylor ringside report & photos
• HBO Boxing bio
• Boxing-Encyclopedia

Preceded by Jermain Taylor	WBC Middleweight Champion September 29, 2007 - present	Succeeded by Incumbent
	WBO Middleweight Champion September 29, 2007 - present
	The Ring Middleweight Champion September 29, 2007 - present