A Dissection of Kelly Pavlik

A bit gruesome perhaps, but it is going to happen anyway. I would rather focus on the real faults than the storm of complaints by fellow fans-playing-writer that he has been 'exposed.'

The biggest problems with Kelly Pavlik's style have all been mentioned on television, usually in a manner that was closer to a back-handed compliment than a real critique. More importantly, the deficiencies in his style are not entirely why he suffered his two losses.

That said, his technical deficiencies are why two skilled and experienced men were able to put together winning gameplans. So making some mention of them is necessary.

He does not bend his knees or move his upper body much. While everyone talks about the latter, I believe the former is the bigger weakness. His high guard and busy jab can substitute quite well for head movement, but his lack of knee movement means that when he gets hit more of those shots are clean. Watching Bernard Hopkins and Floyd Mayweather fight in today's shallower talent pool often leaves us with the notion a good boxer will not get hit, but at the truly world-class level everyone gets hit. The best know what to do when they are, and Pavlik does not entirely appear as if he does.

The failing that really has hurt Pavlik the most is one of attitude. How severely the problem has spread to Pavlik himself is not always clear. At some times Pavlik appears to be the best guy around and at some times he appears 'infected.' The source of the attitude isn't hard to see, however: it's from the corner. Pavlik trainer Jack Loew is the Floyd Mayweather Jr. of the corner: he behaves as if he were the greatest ever on real, but comparatively sparse, accomplishments. Prior to the fight, both Loew and manager Cameron Dunkin were clearly looking past Sergio Martinez to Paul Williams; or perhaps it is more accurate to say they were looking past Sergio Martinez to their excuses for moving up in weight and not fighting Williams.

It is possible that this failure to take note of the guy in front of them had enough effect on Pavlik to make the difference when his eye was badly cut in the 9th round.

Even more damaging, however, is Loew's apparent belief that Kelly Pavlik is a finished product in need of no more fine tuning or improvement. This clearly has spread to Pavlik himself. A fighter's confidence in himself and his corner is important, obviously, but it's foolish not to understand where one can improve. Writing defeats that can be clearly seen to stem from specific strategies to exploit Pavlik's flaws off as 'bad nights' and claiming one can learn nothing from them is simply ridiculous.

I like Pavlik. I think he is a talented kid who is far more polished than he is given credit for being. I don't think he has been 'exposed' at all and I would favor him in a rematch with Martinez.

I do think that he needs to consider shaking up his corner. Loew has taken him as far as he can. More seriously, Loew thinks there is no farther to take him.

That is far more damaging to Pavlik's future career than a lack of head movement or an inability to bend at the knees.