Kelly Pavlik: “The Ghost” Returning to Haunt Beaupierre.

“All these top prospects have the big names and they’ve fought the same guys I’ve fought, but I just dismantled those fighters.”-Kelly Pavlik.

It’s not every day that serious, cold-blooded knockout punchers come along in the sport of boxing, but undefeated middleweight contender Kelly Pavlik is the Real McCoy. Fully twenty of the Youngstown, Ohio man’s twenty-three victories have come inside the distance and that’s the route Pavlik will be looking to take when he faces Dorian Beaupierre tomorrow night on Showtime Network’s Showbox broadcast from Choctaw, Mississippi. The twenty-two-year-old has been laboring

from under the shadow of higher profile up-and-comers such as Jermain Taylor, but is looking to change all that with a dominating display against Beaupierre before a national television audience.

You do not want to miss this exclusive interview with Kelly Pavlik, one of the middleweight division’s most exciting prospects.

Kelly Pavlik was an amateur success story coming out of Ohio, a tall gangly kid that put people on their backs and won tournaments like there was no tomorrow. His lethal power wasn’t initially evident as an amateur; rather it was developed over time after Pavlik learned the crucial skills that made his heavy hands all the more dangerous. “I Actually got my nickname ‘The Ghost’ from my amateur days because I was a real slick boxer who came from a lot of different angles and opponents never knew where I was at,” he recalled. “I could go southpaw because I’m ambidextrous and I was really elusive. I never became a knockout puncher until I was about seventeen. I hit a maturity level and it just came naturally. These days I know I have the power so I’m just working on my defense, boxing skills and hand speed.”

Wins in the amateur game don’t always translate to victory in the professional ranks, but in many cases, a fighter simply has an opponent’s number, and Pavlik is betting that’ll be the case when he climbs through the ropes with Beaupierre. “I fought him in the amateurs, in the 2000 U.S. Championships,” he said. “I beat him then and I take that as a confidence builder, but I was a young kid at the time and brand new in the open division. As it happens though, the pros are a different game and it’s always a different story. He’s a tough fighter from what I’ve seen, a taller middleweight with an awkward style. I picked up on some little things though and my trainer watched the tapes. A lot of times, Beaupierre leaves himself wide open, which happens with an awkward style like that, so it’s an advantage for me. But you got to be careful too because anybody with two hands is a dangerous fighter and he’s a good sized middleweight.”

One advantage Pavlik will have going in to this contest is the condition of his hands. As is often the case with a big puncher, the middleweight has been hindered at times with having to work with damaged tools. “A lot of my career I’ve been battling a hand injury,” explained Kelly. “When you go into fights, it’s hard to be one handed. A lot of times, I would throw a right hand but hold back at the last second, which, among other things, throws your body balance off. We’ve got that taken care of now because I’m constantly getting therapy on the hand and it feels great right now. I’ll be looking to keep Beaupierre at the end of my punches but I’m a good inside fighter too. As the old-time fighters say there’s no need to be on the inside when you don’t have to because it’s dangerous in there so I like to keep people on the outside of my punches. But if there is a time where I have to fight on the inside, I’m very capable of doing it.”

Although Pavlik has the capacity to punch holes in bank vault doors, he’s well aware that in order to knock an opponent out you have to catch them just right, something which is never guaranteed in boxing. “I never predict knockouts for a fight and I always train to go to a decision,” he said. “I’ve only had to go the distance three times in all my fights, but if the knockout comes, there’s nothing wrong at all with getting somebody out of there early. It’s better to get ’em out that way there’s less injuries and its just safer because you never know when you’ll get caught with a good punch.”

Kelly Pavlik is looking for this opportunity against Beaupierre to help him gain greater notice among fight fans and particularly the media who he feels haven’t necessarily given him his due. “”I think Jermain Taylor is a great fighter but I think the Bronze Medal has got him to the point where he is at because he’s fought nobody different than I have,” stated Pavlik. “I don’t like to compare myself to other fighters because styles make fights but at the same time, when I beat the people I have, I don’t seem to get much credit. Grady Brewer is a really tough fighter, but when I knocked him out, people said he was just a tomato can and wasn’t that good of a fighter. Two months later, Jermain Taylor fights him and Grady won the first couple of rounds before Jermain finally won a decision.

“He’s fought Joppy and I thought that was a boring fight. I fought Ross Thompson who is still a dangerous fighter to this day. Just before I fought him, he gave Jeff Lacy a handful and won four rounds out of twelve. I dominated Thompson and won every round. Now Taylor is in a position where he may fight Hopkins. That’s the type of thing that keeps me motivated. All these top prospects have the big names and they’ve fought the same guys I’ve fought, but I just dismantled those fighters. But, it all keeps me hungry and I just continue learning. I just study and work on things because I want to become a legitimate world champion.”

Kelly Pavlik is a middleweight contender being overlooked as the division regains some of its former glamour. However, Pavlik is a fighter possessing the technical skill and intangible power to bring the boxing world’s attention into sharp focus. So tomorrow, when Pavlik has another chance to prove his legitimacy, don’t blink.

Richard Eberline can be reached at richardeberline@fastmail.fm