Will Kelly Pavlik hoist any more belts in his future now that he's no longer middleweight champion? There are many who think the only thing that Pavlik will be hoisting is a bottle, which is probably unfair to the Youngstown, Ohio, hero (he'll hoist more than just a bottle).Some quick thoughts about current goings-on in the Sweet Science:
It’s hard to believe that two months ago we were all talking about lightweight superstar Edwin Valero’s impressive bludgeoning of Antonio DeMarco. The thought went that if Valero could get just his visa issues in order, the sky was the limit for him. The man with the Hugo Chavez tattoo had flair, a dynamic style and skills that could take him to incredible heights. With 27 knockouts in as many fights, this guy was a killer inside the ring. Now we know that he was also a killer outside of it.
It’s bad enough that we prematurely lost Alexis Arguello, Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest in the last year, but at least those were tragic circumstances that befell our fistic heroes. Arguello may have took his took his own life, but the recent HBO Real Sports piece shed light on the untenable situation that Daniel Ortega’s Sandinistan government put Arguello (who had depression and suicide issues besides) in as mayor of Managua, Nicaragua. But now we hear that Valero not only stabbed his own wife to death last week, but also then hung himself in his Venezuelan jail cell. There’s no amount of explanation of personal demons or anything else that will take the stain of the whole situation.
As reports have now come out, Valero apparently was as brutal in his personal life as he was in his boxing career. Violence against friends and family was not uncommon, nor was alcohol and drug abuse. His mother-in-law recently went on record as saying he used drugs daily and was growing more violent, as well. Valero’s wife, Jennifer Viera was in the hospital for being shot in the leg, then later a punctured lung and broken ribs (Valero was suspected as being responsible for those injuries). Valero was even detained for violence against his own mother last September. Here clearly was a man not in control of himself.
The most sobering part of this whole sad episode is that Valero’s two kids are now without parents because the fighter couldn’t conquer his demons. It especially feels unsettling that we all cheered and loved him so much when he was responsible for so many horrific acts against his own family. It just goes to show how we all have to pay more attention when we root for someone, because that someone might be the last person we ought to support.
/
OK, before anyone even thinks of Kelly Pavlik’s next bout, let’s get the gripping and aspersion casting out of the way:
“Pavlik has never really beaten anyone except Jermain Taylor, who’s obviously good at getting knocked out.”
“Pavlik was ducking Paul Williams, and now we see why.”
“That staph infection has made Kelly’s hands brittle, he’ll never have the same punching power again.”
“See? His drinking problems and weight blow-up between fights have finally caught up to him!”
Look, in case anyone forgot, Sergio Martinez may be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in boxing today, it’s just none of us knew about him until the last two years or so. Martinez has only ever lost to Antonio Margarito and Paul Williams, and many thought he beat Williams (of course, he beat Kermit Cintron, too, but got stuck with that silly draw). So when Pavlik lost a competitive decision to Martinez, it doesn’t mean that he’s finished. As a matter of fact, Pavlik looked like he was in position to win the fight after knocking the Argentinian down in the seventh round. Then the bad cut over his right eye happened two rounds later, and Martinez seized the advantage as any great fighter does. With Pavlik unable to see thanks to a corner that apparently had watched too many Rocky movies and didn’t stop the bleeding (no, don’t cut me, Mick!), he was unable to avoid the barrage that eventually came.
In reality, Pavlik’s biggest faux pas may be that he is no longer a 160-pound fighter, as his trouble making the weight would suggest. He weighed in as a light heavy on fight night, so it may be time for him to head up to Super Six land and ply his trade there. Chances are he won’t get any tougher competition than Martinez. This brings to mind how everyone was ready to bury Marco Antonio Barrera for his two losses Junior Jones, which Barrera seem to rebound from just fine and mae the Hall of Fame, thank you. This is not saying that Pavlik is bound for Canestota, but he is by no means shot or overrated. Great fighters will sometimes lose to great fighters; if they were easy to beat, they wouldn’t be great. Let’s not send Youngstown’s Finest to the scrap heap just yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment