JM: Kelly, there have been rumors circulating that there is a possibility you will be making a comeback. Is there any truth to those rumors?

Kelly Pavlik: “Yes there is. I am leaving tomorrow to go to California to start training with Robert Garcia. He has a great stable, and he is a great trainer. I am going to start my career over, make some different moves, and see what happens.”
 
JM: What are your thoughts on Robert Garcia as a trainer?
Kelly Pavlik: “He has done a lot with a lot of fighters. He has done a lot with Antonio Margarito and Brandon Rios obviously. He is a great trainer. I look forward to training with him and learning something different. I am not taking anything away from Jack Loew, he was a great trainer. I can’t say that he got me to where I was at. I got me to where I was at. Jack Loew is a good trainer. I am just looking forward to getting to work.”
 
JM: Will you be campaigning at middleweight for your comeback or are your days at middleweight done?
Kelly Pavlik: “Middleweight is done. For now, at least for my next fight I will be having a new nutritionist, and we’ll see how that goes. As far as right now, I will not be fighting at 160. I’m too big, and it is almost impossible to make that weight. I came down from 195 and I am 6’1” ½ almost 6’2” to make 160.”
 
JM: I recently watched your fight with Sergio Martinez again. The middle rounds were definitely going your way until you were cut in the later rounds. I know that there was a rematch clause in the contractual agreement for that fight. Why wasn’t the rematch with Martinez pursued?
Kelly Pavlik: “That is a very good question and I am glad you asked that.  There are two reasons that the rematch with Martinez never happened. One was I could never make 160 again. Second of all, Martinez never agreed to come to a catch weight of 165 for the rematch. I went up to 170 to fight Bernard Hopkins, and then came back down to defend my title. Martinez never agreed to the catch weight. It wasn’t the cut that was a factor in me losing against Martinez. That cut might’ve been a problem due to the fact that I couldn’t make weight, I was drained, and I had to be hooked up to an IV the day of the fight. You have to understand that I hit a wall, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was winning the middle rounds and I was actually up. He fought smart, and he cut me. I am not taking anything away from Sergio Martinez, but if that was Kelly Pavlik 100% he might’ve been knocked out by the tenth round. If Martinez would’ve fought me at 166 or 167 I would’ve knocked him out in a heartbeat. For real.
 
JM: Now that you might be fighting at 168, which is a very talent dense division, who are some of the fighters at 168 that you are looking forward to fighting?
Kelly Pavlik: “To be honest with you, all of them. I went up to 170 to fight Bernard Hopkins. Everyone was saying that I was afraid to fight Paul Williams? No, Paul Williams was the one that turned the fights down with me. I didn’t turn down a fight with Paul Williams to go fight Bernard Hopkins at two weight classes above. I am ready to fight anybody at the top level in the super middleweight division. Right now, Andre Ward is a great fighter. He isn’t a big puncher, but he is a great fighter. There are a lot of flaws that he has, but overall he is a great fighter. If you told me tomorrow to go fight Carl Froch, I’d fight him. Bute is a great body puncher, but that’s the only thing he has. He has no power. If you watch him while he punches to the head, he is horrible. He wins by counter punching. He comes straight in, and throws a left uppercut to the body, that is the only thing that he has. The super middleweight division is filled with talent. I fought Jermain Taylor, and look what Taylor did to Carl Froch. He was beating Carl Froch so bad that he could’ve taken two knees, and still could’ve won. It is what it is, and I keep my mouth shut. Things are said, and all of a sudden Kelly Pavlik is the bad guy for some reason. I seem to be the only one talked about in the news. I am not doing 90 days in jail like Mayweather but I guess I’d be better off hitting my wife.”
 
JM: Did you see Jermain Taylor’s recent comeback? If so, what did you think about it?
Kelly Pavlik: “No, I didn’t see the fight but I read the articles on it. I am glad for Jermain. The kid has taken a beating, and I am not saying this because I beat him twice but I have a lot of respect for the man. He was a great fighter. Like I said, he was beating Carl Froch for most of the fight; he was beating Arthur Abraham for most of the fight. He just seems to have a hard time in the later rounds. One thing that I think Jermain Taylor needs is a better strength and conditioning coach. It has nothing to do with a trainer; he just needs a new strength and conditioning coach. I am glad for him that he has come back and did well. I heard about them doing CAT scans and MRI’s on his head, and that has me worried. I love the kid, and I think he is a great person overall. I am worried if he has a head problem, and maybe he should just hang them up. Jermain is smart with his money; he isn’t like Floyd Mayweather blowing his money. I think he should just hang them up. At the same time, if he is medically able to fight, and he wants to let him do it. God bless him. If anyone is thinking about a possible third fight with me and him, the answer is no. There is no need to fight a third fight with him. First of all, we went to war both times, so why the hell would I want to fight him for a third time? (laughs)”
 
JM: Any closing thoughts for the fans?
Kelly Pavlik: “For the fans that jumped off the bandwagon, it reminds me of a Tim Tebow thing. Tim Tebow was the greatest quarterback this year. He went on to have three bad games, and everyone jumped off the bandwagon, and said he couldn’t do it anymore. For me, my thing is this: whoever jumped off the bandwagon can stay off. Don’t ever come back on. Once I come back and start doing my thing, stay off. It’s funny how I become the bad guy but Floyd Mayweather punches his wife 14 times in the face, gets arrested, and sentenced to 90 days in jail and nobody really criticizes him for it. I hit a lamp post. I seem to be the talk of every boxing and media outlet. Everyone is saying Kelly Pavlik hit a lamp post and got arrested for a DWI. That wasn’t even a DWI. I guess I was better off going to punch my wife in the face 14 times and get arrested for domestic violence, and I probably wouldn’t have been criticized as much. I’m glad to know that people care about me so much and that I am the one always being talked about. For my true fans that stayed behind me, I appreciate it. Stay tuned because I will be right back. I am coming back, I am going to put on a show, and I am going to silence the critics. That is what I am going to do.”

M

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