Talkin’ Boxing with Kelly Pavlik

February 15th, 2009

By Kenneth Lundgren

“I know the hunger Rubio has for my title.”

Middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik talks about Hatton vs. Pacquiao, why he likes Korn for his entrance music, his next opponent Rubio and more in this interview:

BoxingInsider: How do you break down the Hatton-Pacquiao fight? I see Pacquiao winning easy.

Kelly Pavlik: I don’t see Pacquiao winning easy. Styles make fights. Hatton, you know, has a weird style. He brings different angles, different things to a fight. I’m going with Pacquiao, but Hatton can fight. Just because he throws a lot of punches, he’s got fast hands, too.

BoxingInsider: I think he just worked a little too hard in those opening rounds against Mayweather. I think if he paced himself better, it would’ve been a closer fight…

Kelly Pavlik: I think so. He was giving Mayweather all he could handle early on…

BoxingInsider: For you next fight will you stay with Korn as your entrance music or will you change it?

Kelly Pavlik: With Korn, that one just has the right beat for the period of time it takes for us to get to the ring. Especially on Showtime or ShoBox and stuff like that, you have a time limit to get to the ring. We were trying to find something that had a hard kick to it, that really got people goin’. And that song, that was pretty much the only one we could find…

BoxingInsider: You are a successful athlete in an incredibly tough sport. What one attribute would you say is most responsible for this success?

Kelly Pavlik: I would have to say, actually, my boxing. It don’t look like it when I’m in the ring. A lot of people think I’m one-dimensional, don’t have the speed. But when I get in there with the top fighters, their game plan seems to change. I stick to my game plan. I don’t change it for anything, no matter how hard I get hit or how hard somebody lands a punch.

BoxingInsider: Comments on your next opponent – Marco Antonio Rubio?
Kelly Pavlik: Yeah, the kid is a rough and tough customer. He’s earned his number one ranking. It wasn’t that long ago that I was the number one contender. I know the hunger Rubio has for my title. So, I will be 150% for this fight.