BoxRec

Has retired surprised at the timing seeing how he had a fight lined up against Andre Ward thought he'd of took 1 last pay date before hanging them up

Good luck to him if he has retired always liked him guess someone talked some sense in to him

the Ward fight was cancelled in the end, as Ward would need long term rehab on his shoulder.
I dont think Pavlik has had his heart in boxing since the Martinez fight, and he has been worried about the long term damage boxing can do.

How good do the Brits think he was? Just a home town hero or a bit more than that? My abiding memory will be Hopkins absolutely schooling him and then unwittingly or unwittingly, I'm not sure, patronising the heck out of him. I liked watching his rise, though. Definitely an entertaining fighter.

A very good fighter who relied on his great physical gifts and made up for a lack of in-ring imagination with very sound fundamentals, courage and killer instinct.

A very entertaining boxer, his wins over Zertuche, Miranda and Taylor stand out. He was just below the very top class, but a brave guy who in his prime could compete with anyone. He can retire with his head held high.

I hope he manages to stay out of trouble from now on.

The first man to stop Jermain Taylor in an (literally) up and down cracker and out bullied the bully stopping Edison Miranda.
A bit a bit of a straight up one dimensional banger but tough as old boots.
Seeing him get clowned in front of the world by Popkins stays in the memory and getting tenderised by Martinez .
I wish he'd fought Abraham when they were both at MW before the humiliation, drunken episodes, staph infection etc that would have been a bang up. He didn't fancy it..end of.

theres no doubt he was the best middleweight in the world for about a year/18 months ,was never the same after the Hopkins schooling.
shame,was rarely in a bad fight theres no doubt boxings a poorer place without him

I still wish we'd seen Williams v Pavlik

Loved watching his fights Gary locket was a masterclass from start to finish a real crowd pleaser he should be finically secured having been in some top fights but then again he liked to party hard all the best mr pavlik

He also had terrible problems with cocaine.

Just wasn't the same above 160

Poncey wrote:He also had terrible problems with cocaine.

Just wasn't the same above 160

i never knew that,thought it was just alchohol

handsofstone wrote:

Poncey wrote:He also had terrible problems with cocaine.

Just wasn't the same above 160

i never knew that,thought it was just alchohol

X2

Final round wrote:

handsofstone wrote:

Poncey wrote:He also had terrible problems with cocaine.

Just wasn't the same above 160

i never knew that,thought it was just alchohol

X2

Having read a few biographies of peole like Duff Mcagan and Ozzy Osbourne who were alcoholics and heavy cocaine users, they used cocaine to help keep themselves awake so they could carry on drinking. The cocaine high wasn't especially what they were after, they just couldn't bear to stop drinking as passing out would stop them. Maybe Pavlik also used it for this reason?

I think a hell of a lot of fighters are on the beak. Need only look closer to home to see its a "problem" . Wherever theres money theres people willing to relieve you of it.

It's a shame how it ended up. I thought he might make a serious comeback after moving over to Garcia's stable. But if his heart's not in it, it's the right decision.

I just wish he'd never even taken the Hopkins fight. I remember when it was announced, Bob Arum was almost apologetic. There was no clamour for it, he didn't need to move up in weight, and it was merely because they couldn't seem to get anyone else. And to top it all, he was suffering from bronchitis in the lead-up.

The kind of beating Hopkins gave him can completely change a fighter. Same thing happened with Lacy after Calzaghe.

i seem to remember it was a 50-50 fight, if not tipped towards pavlik. I remember reading a boxing monthly article in the run up and thinking hopkins is going to muller this kid. and he did, pretty much punch perfect.

Just done a quick google and both sports illustrated and ring magazine awarded the fight "upset of the year"

Wales wrote:Just done a quick google and both sports illustrated and ring magazine awarded the fight "upset of the year"

Yeah that says it all really. Even back then we hadn't yet learned that you can never write Hopkins off. Most people thought Pavlik was going to wipe him out in a few rounds. He was coming off the Calzaghe defeat, and was in his mid-40's, and Pavlik was a KO artist in his prime

But style-wise, Hopkins was Pavlik's worst nightmare (like he is for most people).

I think had Calzaghe taken the Pavlik fight before he retired instead of Hopkins, Joe would have easily beaten Pavlik and would have helped him to go down as one of the greats.....

TopGun wrote:I think had Calzaghe taken the Pavlik fight before he retired instead of Hopkins, Joe would have easily beaten Pavlik and would have helped him to go down as one of the greats.....

Yeah you're right Joe missed a trick passing Pavlik . He would have have thrashed him and Pavlik was calling him out.

Final round wrote:

TopGun wrote:I think had Calzaghe taken the Pavlik fight before he retired instead of Hopkins, Joe would have easily beaten Pavlik and would have helped him to go down as one of the greats.....

Yeah you're right Joe missed a trick passing Pavlik . He would have have thrashed him and Pavlik was calling him out.

That said, I remember staying up for the fight between Pavlik and Hopkins and beliveing the hype that Pavlik would KO Hopkins and was the next p4p king....

TopGun wrote:

Final round wrote:

TopGun wrote:I think had Calzaghe taken the Pavlik fight before he retired instead of Hopkins, Joe would have easily beaten Pavlik and would have helped him to go down as one of the greats.....

Yeah you're right Joe missed a trick passing Pavlik . He would have have thrashed him and Pavlik was calling him out.

That said, I remember staying up for the fight between Pavlik and Hopkins and beliveing the hype that Pavlik would KO Hopkins and was the next p4p king....

Well Hopkins looked like he couldn't hack the pace at times during fighting Calzaghe with his overcooking lowblows etc but with hindisight of course it was Joe who made him revert to that. Pavlik was a different prospect