Kelly Pavlik has risen from the dead and now waits for Matt Macklin -- The Guardian

By Kevin Mitchell, Guardian.co.uk

Matthew Macklin is at that stage of his career where he could stick or twist. The soft option is to hunt down John Duddy in America for what would be a lucrative Irish gig, in Boston or New York, and which he would surely win – although the Belfast man first has a fight against ulio César Chávez at the Alamodome in Texas in June.

Macklin, meanwhile, is aiming higher. He wants Kelly Pavlik. This is a high-risk option, but one I hope he goes for. The European middleweight champion might be just the sort of boxer-fighter who could replicate what Bernard Hopkins did to Pavlik one weight up.

A couple of years ago, the Americans were telling us Pavlik was the next big thing in boxing. I didn't buy it then and I'd have to be a bona fide idiot to buy it now. In 2007 and 2008, he was, according to the fight game's self-regulating publicity machine, the king of the middleweights. He was so bursting with confidence, power and ambition he was calling out Joe Calzaghe at 12 stones. It would have been a massacre.

So Kelly stayed at 160lb, where he thrashed Gary Lockett in three rounds, convincing the smart Welshman to retire for good – and the cheerleaders continued to paint Pavlik as the original throwback, blue-collar hero.

He was just that, too, a personable and open young man who stayed close to his roots in struggling Youngstown, Pennsylvania. Who couldn't warm to a fighter like that? He had a loud army of supporters ready to follow him anywhere – well, to Atlantic City, at least – in their many thousands. Pavlik was going to save boxing, said the optimists.

Their guy hit hard and often, he'd twice beaten a reasonably live Jermain Taylor and anybody else they put in front of him. Before that, he'd stopped the tough Edison Miranda in seven. For a while, Pavlik was The Man.

But what the cheerleaders refused to acknowledge (and still fail to see) was that he is a straight-backed, unsubtle slugger, a thousand-mile-an-hour beast with clear technical flaws. He fights with his head in the air and his fists cocked, throwing punches in volume but without a lot of craft or thought. The guy in the bar could see them coming, but the opponents, none of them exactly Sugar Ray Robinson, couldn't get out of the way. So the myth persisted.

The one pure boxer who could expose his deficiencies was Hopkins, and the old boy did it on the Boardwalk in October 2008, in what turned out to be his last great fight. He'd just lost to Calzaghe and he was desperate to take his frustrations out on someone.

It was a pretty ordinary piece of match-making. On a night when Pavlik put on 9lbs to take on the bigger Hopkins but was clearly out of sorts, B-Hop beat him up like a cop giving a kid a slap around the ears. The Pavlik Express crashed.

There were reports of subsequent drinking and wild nights. He had injuries and infections. Twice he pulled out of fights with "the man nobody wants to fight", Paul Williams. The love affair with the fans he grew up with went sour. How familiar is this story?

But Pavlik, "The Youngstown Ghost", is back. He's sobered up and he's fit, they say. Tomorrow night in Atlantic City (where else?) he fights tough, awkward Sergio Martinez. This is another piece of brave match-making. It won't be easy against Martinez, a tricky southpaw who gave Williams hell just before Christmas and drew with Kermit Cintron last year when good judges reckon he might have won.

But if Pavlik can find something from the past, if he is still as good as his friends are hoping, he will come through. If he doesn't, it's a long drive home, where he might just take a phone call from Matt Macklin.

WHERE NEXT FOR THE GHOST?

Edison Miranda, meanwhile, has gone another route since losing to Pavlik three years ago. He's won five and lost two (against Arthur Abraham, TKO 4, and Andre Ward, points 12) in that time, and tomorrow night gets one last shot.

The willing Colombian is 29 but getting old fast. How old and how fast we will discover when he gets in the ring with Lucian Bute in Montreal tomorrow night to challenge for the Canadian's IBF super-middleweight title.

Bute, many say, would win the Showtime Super Six 12-stone tournament (which is wheezing a bit even before the half stage), except he's a HBO fighter. They could be right. I've not seen enough of him to say. But his 25-0 (20 stoppages) record has some decent names on it: Sakio Bika, who gave Calzaghe a tough night, and William Joppy, who was too good for Howard Eastman. But Bute has only twice ventured abroad, for learning fights against nobodies.

The evidence of his pedigree will be in the performance rather than the result, because he surely will win. If he doesn't look a lot better against a fading Miranda than Pavlik did in 2007, however, all talk of him taking on the Super Six winner next year some time will evaporate.

Pavlik would probably fancy his chances of moving up in weight again to take on Bute. That could be why they are on the same two-city bill on HBO, as a pre-fight sell. There's plenty of activity around this weight right now. It's all about being in the right place at the right time.

HEY, HAYE, GET IT ON

So, the wheels are turning for David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko. Let's hope they don't come off like they did last year. Adam Booth is talking to the Germans a lot lately. "Viel Glück!" as they say – or will it be Auf Wiedersehen, pet, and hello Audley?

Source: guardian.co.uk

European Champ Macklin links up with Freddie Roach -- Eastside Boxing

Eastside Boxing

European Middleweight Champion Matthew Macklin will link up with new trainer Freddie Roach in Los Angeles next week as he begins preparations for the first defence of his title. Macklin defends his belt against the highly touted Dmitry Pirog in April and he will prepare for the unbeaten Russian at Roach's legendary Wildcard Gym.

Roach is generally regarded as boxing's best trainer and has been the guiding force behind Manny Pacquiao's rise to become the best pound for pound fighter in the World. Macklin believes linking up with Roach could prove crucial as he looks to make an assault on a World title in 2010..

“I spent some time training at the Wildcard at the start of my career and it's always been on my mind to go back there at some point,” said Macklin. “When you see the improvements that Freddie has made with fighters like Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan it shows you just how good a trainer he is. The next few years in my career are going to be massive and to have Freddie in my corner will be a huge bonus.

“It's a huge opportunity for me because not only is it a chance to work with the most successful trainer in the world but the sparring over there is unbelievable. The Wildcard Gym is full of champions so everyday you're testing yourself against the very best.”

Roach says he's delighted to have the opportunity to work with Macklin. “I like Matt, he's a good kid with a lot of ability and plenty of ambition,” said Roach. “I've had some good times working with Irish fighters like Steve Collins, Bernard Dunne and Wayne McCullough in the past so hopefully I can have some success with Matt too.

“The middleweight division is wide open right now so I think there could be some big fights out there for Matt. We've got to get past Pirog first though and that's a tough fight so we're just thinking about that right now.”

Following an excellent 2009 that saw him win the British and European titles with a pair of sensational knockouts and an impressive win over Uruguayan Champ Rafa Sosa Pintos in Dublin Macklin is on the cusp of a World title fight with only Pirog standing in his way.

“I've been ticking over and I'll travel to LA next week to start working with Freddie and preparing for the Pirog fight. It's a big fight because as well as being a mandatory defence of my European title we're both ranked in the top ten in the World so it's effectively a World title eliminator as well.”

Macklin had been based in Manchester with trainer Joe Gallagher and admits he will be leaving Gallagher's gym with a heavy heart having enjoyed so much success with him.

“It's bitter sweet to be honest because I'm sorry to be leaving Joe but o his credit he understood that this was an opportunity I had to take. I've enjoyed the most successful spell of my career with him and Joe's been a huge part of that success. He's brought out levels of fitness in me that I didn't even know existed and he's always had the tactics spot on. He's an excellent trainer and I know he's going to go on to become one of the best trainers out there.”

Source: eastsideboxing.com