CHARLIE SCHMIDT’S COMBAT SPORS CORNER: KELLY PAVLIK
Posted on | May 23, 2007 | No Comments
CHARLIE SCHMIDT’S COMBAT SPORTS CORNER
I first saw Kelly Pavlik fight back in 2001. I was ringside at an ESPN2 card where he destroyed some overmatched club fighter. Kelly was maybe 20 or 21 back then and looked even younger. Still wearing his hand wraps and fight shorts, he watched the rest of the card ringside after his victory, soaking in the main event like the eager student of the game that he was. Pavlik was gracious and polite to the fans, and I remember telling my friend that Kelly would fight for a world title some day. He just had that kind of glow to him. I saw great things for him in the future.
The main event that night featured former Olympian Eric Morel, a talented young Puerto Rican making his fourth defense of his WBA flyweight title. Morel was another fighter who I had high hopes for. Already a title holder, he had the speed and general ring poise to be competitive in virtually any fight at a time when there were a number of talented fighters in and around his weight class.
Six years later, Pavlik is near a title shot and destined for good paydays after an impressive showing on last Saturday’s HBO card. He is at the pinnacle of his career, as nothing will make or break your career as much as impressing the brass at HBO. He may or may not become world champ, but he has already reached a point that very few boxers reach. Congrats to “Ghost.”
On the other side of the spectrum is Eric Morel, the other fighter on that card years ago. Morel had a series of booze fueled run-ins with the law following that fight in 2001, but none as serious and career ending as his 2005 conviction for 2nd degree sexual assault on a child. He has not fought since. He faces a 30 year sentence in the matter.
Morel was a talented fighter, having won a major title and defending it four times and then going on to lose it, then gain a lesser title and unsuccessfully challenge for another major title in his last fight. Like Pavlik, he fought on a couple of HBO cards and was able to reach that pinnacle point of success that all boxers strive for. Booze and his own personal demons took him down, and took him down hard.
Eric Morel is an important lesson for Pavlik and boxers in general. Sometimes what you do in between fights is just as important as what you do during fights…
Not five minutes after Pavlik’s victory the phrase “The Great White Hope” was tossed around on web forums and in press pieces all over the place. Please, please, please do not perpetuate the use of this phrase. No one ever referred to Tiger Woods as “The Great Black Hope” in golf. Black hockey players do not get this moniker. No one refers to Yao Ming as “The Great Chinese Hope” in basketball. So don’t use it to describe Pavlik. Why anyone would use that phrase to describe an athlete is beyond me. It’s stupid. Identify Pavlik by his skills, not his skin color. Granted, Pavlik’s nickname “Ghost” arose from his being one of the few competitive white boxers in the amateur ranks, but he is a pro now. Let’s treat him like one.
I will back on Friday to talk about the big UFC fight this weekend. I can’t wait. What a fight.
Talk soon.