The comeback will have to wait until next year. Kelly Pavlik’s team has confirmed their fighter will be unable to fight on November 13 due to an unspecified rib injury.
Pavlik’s manager Cameron Dunkin said the injury happened upon the fighter’s return to his native Youngstown, Ohio from an isolated training camp in Pennsylvania. The injury is devestating, as Dunkin is well aware that Pavlik is losing a huge opportunity to re-establish his name on one of the biggest pay-per-views of the year.
“I don’t know exactly what happened, but I was told by Jack Loew that he had a rib injury a few days ago and might not be able to fight, and then he confirmed it to me [this] morning,” Dunkin told ESPN. “I’m heartbroken, I’m devastated, I’m sick to my stomach. This was such a great opportunity for Kelly, to be at Cowboys Stadium in front of who knows how many fans in a fun fight on a great show, a great event. I could go on and on.”
Pavlik was scheduled to fight Bryan Vera in Dallas Stadium on the undercard of Pacquiao-Margarito. The comeback fight would have been his first since losing the middleweight title to Sergio Martinez in April.
Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew, said he kept silent about the injury for two weeks in hopes for an improvement. Unfortunately, the condition worsened to the point that Pavlik could no longer take body punches in sparring.
“He had a cortisone shot put in and it was still not better,” Loew detailed to ESPN. “Thursday he came into the gym and he was still sore and we decided that was it. I won’t put him in there when he’s injured. He said he’s injured and the doctor said it’s very tender and that it was probably the cartilage. I gotta believe the doctor. I do have to believe Kelly’s ribs are extremely sore.”
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has moved in lightweight Brandon Rios as a replacement. Rios’ last fight was on HBO, where he defeated Anthony Peterson by disqualification.
At press time, Rios’ opponent has not been determined.
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Tough break (no pun intended) for Pavlik. The reason manager Cameron Dunkin sounds so distraught is because this fight was basically an audition to test Pavlik’s viability in facing Lucian Bute at super-middleweight. The HBO team would’ve been hyping up how solid Pavlik looked at the catchweight (164 pounds) and name-dropping Bute next Saturday. Now that he’s out of the picture, Bute may opt to face the winner of Pascal-Hopkins at light-heavyweight (175 pounds).
That would leave Pavlik with no big name options outside of the winner of Martinez-Williams II, which is for the middleweight title. The problem there is Pavlik has had well documented problems making 160 pounds, even going as far to say he’d have to hire a special nutritionist if he attempted to make that weight again. This is reinforced further by the fact the Vera fight was contracted at 164 pounds.
It sounds like Kelly Pavlik has cracked ribs, and if that’s the case he shouldn’t be fighting. There isn’t much a doctor can do for that except tape you up. The body has to rest and slowly heal itself. And the healing process does not include taking punches from another man.
Sad news for Kelly Pavlik fans. Don’t be surprised if he comes back in 2011 campaigning as a full-fledged super-middleweight.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 