Kelly Pavlik Remains Very Loyal To Trainer Jack Loew

[WelshDevilRob]

Kelly Pavlik Remains Very Loyal To Trainer Jack Loew

 

By Lem Satterfield

 

Jermain Taylor and Ricky Hatton switched from their orginal trainers late in their professional boxing careers, and they haven't been heard from since.

 

But despite calls for him to do the same, former WBC and WBO middleweight world champion, Kelly Pavlik, has resisted doing so with Jack Loew, the man who literally has been in his corner from the inception of Pavlik's journey.

 

"It’s a simple thing. We got to the point in our career where a lot of fighters don’t get to. It goes deeper than, 'You have two losses so now it’s the time do that [change trainers.]' In my opinion, fighters change trainers, but they’re not always successful when that happens," said Pavlik, during Friday's national conference call with media members.

 

"More times than not, they end up losing one of their fights," said Pavlik. "I think the main thing is once you get a clear head, and you can focus on what you have to focus on and make the right decisions in your career."

 

The 28-year-old Pavlik (36-2, 32 knockouts) will throw his first professional punch in more than a year when he meets Alphonso Lopez (21-0, 16 KOs) in a May 7, super middleweight under card bout of a main event featuring WBO welterweight king and eight-division titlist Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) and Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs) at the MGM Grand in LasVegas.

 

Pavlik's bout against Lopez will be his first time in the ring since April, when he was dethroned by Sergio Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KOs) during a unanimous decision.

 

In early January, Pavlik was released following a two-month stay at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., for treatment for a problem with alcohol.

 

Pavlik has insisted that Loew has been a steady, positive influence on him, even defending him publicly when it has appeared that Pavlik has had issues with alcohol since shortly after dethroning Jermain Taylor by seventh-round knockout in Atlantic City in September of 2007.

 

"It was [Pavlik's] decision to quit drinking. People have to realize that. We didn’t put a gun to his head and make him go to California. He did that," said Loew.

 

"He’s trying to make himself a better person, and I don’t think people are giving him as much credit as he deserves," said Loew. "I think everybody involved in this is going to benefit from what Kelly did, not from what we had Kelly do, but what he did. I think everyone is going to see a whole different fighter come May 7."

 

Loew was with Pavlik when he suffered his first loss to Bernard Hopkins by decision in October of 2008 while they were fighting at 170 pounds, after which he twice pulled out of scheduled match ups with Paul Williams, citing an infection on one of his fingers.

 

So Pavlik, a married father of two, young children, will face the Lopez, of Cut And Shoot, Texas, with Loew in his corner, yet again, this, although some of Pavlik's camp members have called for Loew's removal.

 

"Obviously Kelly has been extremely loyal to me. And, obviously, he’s been attempted to be pulled in many different ways," said Loew. "We lost to two great fighters, our record speaks for itself. I think if Kelly was not getting any better or at a stand-still then maybe we could be concerned. But we’re not."

 

Pavlik partially attributed extreme weight loss for his loss to Martinez, against whom he faded down the stretch, and refused to point the finger solely at Loew.

 

In fact, Pavlik credited Loew for suggesting that he make the move to 168 pounds for Lopez.

 

"Even as far as the weight issue, Jack Loew had his say. He said, 'You know what? We don’t want to [move up,]'" said Pavlik. "But we have to move up in weight class because it ain’t going to work at 160. It’s totally impossible.’ Simple things like that, those type of decisions make a big difference in your career."

 

Loew agrees.

 

"Everything is going the way we want it to go. We moved up in weight class. I think a lot of people are going to see a more complete Kelly. Going off the two losses that we had, that’s completely ridiculous. A lot of people don’t know the circumstances we had," said Loew.

 

"To blame anybody, I think the whole camp would have to take blame for a lot of things that went on in those fights," said Loew. "We just got to go out there and prove ourselves, and I need to continue to do a good job with Kelly. We need to take care of business against Lopez and go from there."

 

Source:

www.boxingscene.com

[grapevine241]

loew doesnt seem to have the strategy to compete with guys at the top level, then again pavlik doesnt seem to have the skill. i admire his loyalty, i dont think changing to one of the big names would do all much at this point.

[Storm25]

Pavlik is what he is. He's nothing going to as Bernard Hopkins would say 'get black' and start being all slick and dance around people. I'm looking forward to the Lopez-fight. I think that will tell us something. Pavlik looked for awhile now like his heart wasn't really in boxing anymore. let's see if there's a bit of fire back.

[davemurphy]

Yeah, Loew is right, changing Trainers can be a complete disaster at the elite level. Manny Pacquaio and Wlad Klitschko dumped their Trainers and went with Roach and Steward and I never heard of either one again :) There's a reason you never heard of Jack Loew before Kelly Pavlik, and when Kelly Pavlik is done you'll never hear from him again. He's like a B-level actor on the Broadway Stage, he doesn't belong and it shows.

[davemurphy]

loew doesnt seem to have the strategy to compete with guys at the top level, then again pavlik doesnt seem to have the skill. i admire his loyalty, i dont think changing to one of the big names would do all much at this point.

 

I agree that it's probably too late at this point, but still maintain that Pavlik should've taken out the trash when he had the chance. His Loyalty was to a fault.

[littleman370]

there's a good chance moving trainers would hurt pavliks career. he is entirely one-dimensional in the ring, and it could be devastating to try to add a second dimension. but, the flip side, it could work out too. i'm inclined to think a modest change of trainer would be ideal. he shouldn't go somewhere where he isn't top dog (e.g. roach and wildcard). someone like buddy mcgirt could do a lot for his game without dramatically changing his style, just look at provodnikovs last fight for a bit of evidence

[Donkeywater]

Like some, I admire Pavlik's loyalty but in all honesty I don't have time for Jack Loew. Don't rate him as a trainer. He's also one of these guys that likes to trashtalk even more than his fighters - and that really annoys me.

[davemurphy]

Yeah, I know that Kelly would never just flat our abandon Loew, but my problem would be on Loew's end and seemingly not being willing to bring in help. Plenty of guys who could tweek KP's game without flat out taking him over. Also, the loyalty hasn't always been a two way street, when KP lost his two fights then Loew was real quick to lay ALL the blame on his fighter........

[Crusader]

Sometimes in sport it is faithful and loyal in the same way as it is with a woman who does not deserve it

[WelshDevilRob]

I never liked all the crap Loew used to spout about Joe Calzaghe despite the fact they actually turned down a fight with Joe.

 

Once Pavlik made it big - Loew's head grew immensely.

[TodoCorazon17]

Haven't we already seen Kelly's ceiling with JL as his trainer? I don't see JL as the guy to bring Kelly to the next level from this point forward. And, by all indications, he'll be fighting at 168 and need someone who can challenege him and improve his game if he's going to beat this current crop of super mids.

 

How can it really "get worse" for Kelly at 168? If everything were the same as the last time we saw him do we really see Kelly beating Ward, Froch or even Bute? Its going to take the Kelly of the JT days to defeat those guys. And, IMHO he'll need someone who can really get the best out of him to do it.

 

We all know boxing is 80% mental.....Kelly has been questioning who he is and who he isn't outside the ring. Is he an alcoholic or is he not? Can he have another drink one day or can't he? Inside the ring, he'll be asking similar questions of himself soon too. As my arch enemy Teddy Atlas would say, will he have the answers to those questions?

 

For me, expectations of Pavlik are low. I hope the best for him. But I'm skeptical unless there is a major change both inside and outside the ring. Its early, but I haven't much liked what I've heard him say so far outside the ring. Let's see now what happens inside.

[davemurphy]

Tim-

The drinking problem was something that was around for quite some time and they pooh poohed the rumors and on the day he was supposed to get out of rehab, Cameron Dunkin was already talking up a fight for him. I hear a lot of lip service about what's best for Kelly, but I'm not seeing anybody on his team doing anything different than what they've always done. I'm expecting the mistakes from the past to repeat themselves and Pavlik's return to be shortlived. He will win this Saturday simply because they brought in a taylor-made opponent, but a victory will bring "business as usual" and certain defeat for any step up fight at 168. The list of SMW's that can beat him is pretty deep.............the only thing deeper are the number of Trainers that are better than Jack Loew. Have fun back in Youngstown, Jack, your 15 Minutes of Fame are up!!!