By George Willis, New York Post
He's not a drunk. He's not a carouser, and he certainly is not afraid to fight anybody. Those are just a few things Kelly Pavlik of Youngstown wants to prove tonight when he defends his middleweight championship against Sergio Martinez of Argentina at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
The 12-round bout is part of a doubleheader to be televised by HBO. The broadcast begins in Canada with undefeated Lucian Bute defending his super middleweight title against Edison Miranda of Puerto Rico.
Pavlik (36-1, 32 KOs) is looking to rebound from a difficult 2009 when he battled a staph infection in his hand that caused him to pull out of at least two proposed bouts with Paul Williams. There were also reports of Pavlik having a drinking problem and not being fully dedicated to boxing.
Pavlik and his trainer Jack Loew insist those reports are either false or exaggerated. Pavlik likes to drink a beer and shoot pool with his friends in Youngstown while not in training, and it was the complications from the staph infection, not fear, that forced him to pull out of the bouts with Williams.
"I had a bad 2009," Pavlik said. "[Now] I can't lose or my reputation goes way down. My job right now is to go out there and beat Sergio Martinez, and beat him convincingly, and keep fighting those types of fights to get the kind of recognition I want."
Despite his health problems, Pavlik fought twice in 2009, defeating mandatory challengers Marco Antonio Rubio in February and Miguel Angel Espino in December. But in many ways, Pavlik still is trying to regain his reputation after being dominated by Bernard Hopkins in a non-title bout in October 2008. Pavlik won just one round on one scorecard that night; two rounds on another.
Pavlik says that was just "a bad night," but, that coupled with the cancellations of two proposed bouts with Williams, has some wondering if we already have seen the best of Pavlik. Martinez, a junior middleweight champion, is viewed as a worthy opponent, after losing a majority decision to Williams last December.
"I wanted to fight Williams and they said I was lying," Pavlik said. "The doctors had to prove that I wasn't lying. So the next best fight out there was Martinez. Other than Paul Williams, his is the biggest name in the division and the biggest fight for me to take."
Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KOs) is fast on his feet and punches from all angles, an awkward style that could frustrate Pavlik.
"This is one of the best fighters quality-wise I've ever promoted and the best fighter to come out of Argentina since Carlos Monzon," said Manhattan-based promoter Lou DiBella.
Loew said he has not seen Pavlik look as good as he did during training camp and doesn't expect Martinez's style to be too much of a riddle.
"He's awkward and punches from different angles, which sometimes helps him and sometimes that could leave him wide open and get caught coming in," Loew said. "But he's somebody you've got to respect."
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The boxing world continues to mourn the loss of Arthur Mercante Sr., who died last Saturday. A member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Mercante was the third man in the ring for the legendary first fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden in 1971. It was one of more than 140 world championship fights Mercante worked.
"He was a man who carried himself with such grace and class both inside and outside the ring and was an inspiration to me my entire life," said ring judge Julie Lederman. Mercante was 90.
george.willis@nypost.com
Source: nypost.com
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