Pavlik “99% Sure” It’s On!

July 16, 2007

by Antonio Castro

photo by Emily Harney

Kelly Pavlik is eagerly awaiting his shot at Jermain Taylor’s Middleweight title. It has been rumored that the fight is a go for September 29 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. FightNews caught up with Pavlik and asked him about the fight.

Have you signed the contract to fight Jermain Taylor on September 29?

No, not yet, and I don’t think Taylor has either. I guess right now they (DiBella Entertainment, Taylor’s promoter) sent paperwork over to my promoter, Bob Arum, and I guess everything is about ready to be signed and done.

Who is going to be the promoter for the event?

I think it’s going to be shared between DiBella and Arum

Why is the fight being held on the East Coast?

I guess Caesar’s Palace at the Boardwalk put up a lot of money and it was the best offer that DiBella and Arum got. They also have to pay Jermain Taylor. He wants a shit load of money. That works out to my best interest though, fighting there.

Are you worried about the fight being in New Jersey instead of in Vegas where the majority of your fights have taken place?

No, I’m actually glad it’s there. It’s close to my hometown and about 2,500 people came to see me in my last fight in Tennessee and New Jersey is closer, so there should be a handful more people to support me, especially for a world title fight. I think we’ll have a good amount of people from Youngstown there.

Did they try to lowball you, so you wouldn’t take the fight?

The money part came out not in my best interest, but for me, this has been a shot that I’ve been waiting for seven years and I’m not going to sit there and cry about the money. It’s still a good enough amount of money and my promoter and Cameron (Dunkin) are trying to work out more money, which is fair because believe it or not, I’m a humble guy and don’t really say too much. Right now it’s not Jermain Taylor that’s the draw. People want to see me fight Jermain Taylor. If Taylor was fighting another junior middleweight, he wouldn’t get any money either. People want to see me and him fight. I guarantee you that if me and Edison Miranda weren’t on the same card as Cory Spinks and Jermain Taylor, that venue wouldn’t have been half as packed. I told Cameron that if the money is right for Taylor then I’m not going to sit there and complain about the money. I’m just glad to get my shot. I’m glad he stepped up to the plate and is taking the fight.

What is the split going to be?

I don’t know yet, I wanna say around 70/30. Any more than that would be kind of ridiculous, because it’s me who’s bringing the people there, not him. But I’m not going to bitch about that.

Are you surprised that Jermain Taylor appears to be stepping up and taking the fight?

To tell you the truth, I’m not, for one reason. He backed himself into a corner. He took fights with welterweights and junior middleweights after Hopkins that he knew he could get away with. He was looking at Sergio Mora, guys like that. It was good news for me, because I’m going to get a fight out of it. If he doesn’t take the fight with me, he will be bombarded by the critics. If he goes up to super middleweight and loses, his career is pretty much done.

Realistically, what are the chances the fight will be made on September 29?

I am 99% sure the fight will happen, but now I’m hearing a couple different things that they want the fight at this place, at this weight. Lou DiBella and Bob Arum want this fight to happen. Lou DiBella is a great promoter, don’t get me wrong he’s not my promoter, but he’s carried Jermain Taylor and a lot of the other up-and-coming guys and he knows what’s right for the sport. The unfortunate thing is he’s not in total control of Jermain Taylor’s decisions, so we are just hoping that he can persuade Jermain into taking the fight and signing the contract.

Jermain has already said he’s moving up in weight after the fight. It’s tough for you to make 160 pounds as well. What are your plans afterward?

I want to win the title and stick around. I want to fight Felix Sturm for the WBA and Arthur Abraham for the IBF and then I want to go up to 168 where Joe Calzaghe will hopefully still be around. I want to take all the belts. That’s one thing you want to conquer in this sport. You want to fight the best, even though anything can happen. You can get hit with a phantom punch, you can get robbed, you can get out-boxed, and if that happens you can always say that you fought the best. That’s what I want to do. I’m looking to get those two middleweight fights in the next year and a half, no longer than that before I move up.

How confident are you that you will be able to beat Jermain?

I’m very confident. Very, very, very, confident. I think that it might be one of the easier fights of my career. He’s already started to run his mouth. Same thing that Edison Miranda said, Jermain Taylor’s starting to say. Things like, “no more Mr. Nice Guy.” You know that’s all a bunch of crap. Now he’s starting to turn into the same bigmouth type of fighter that a lot of the other guys are in this sport. It’s a shame that boxing comes to that. People are dying to see two humble guys go in and fight and are classy. But, he wants to run his mouth now and I love it! Miranda did that and look what happened to him, and now Jermain Taylor is saying the exact same things.