HBO Interviews: Kelly Pavlik and Sergio Martinez

by Scott Christ on Apr 11, 2010 4:11 AM EDT in Boxing Fight Previews

We are now just six days away from a big-time double-header on HBO, headlined by the world middleweight championship clash between Kelly Pavlik and Sergio Martinez. This is, in my mind, a meeting between the world's best middleweight and the world's best junior middleweight. It's a potential stylistic nightmare for both fighters, a wonderful matchup, and the sort of fight that Pavlik badly needs to help rehab a damaged image. For Martinez, it's another earned shot for a tremendous fighter who has sprung into the boxing eye in the last couple of years with some phenomenal performances, including last December's Fight of the Year candidate with Paul Williams.

Below are HBO sit-down interviews with both champion and challenger.

Sergio Martinez: "Kelly Pavlik, he should worry about me in many ways. Speed, which is an abysmal difference between us. The strategy that I will have in the ring that night, and the strength of my punches. Because they will surprise him and hurt him a great deal. My way of visualizing my fight with Kelly Pavlik is knowing that I will win in every aspect."

Kelly Pavlik: "I just think that people have been underestimating my handspeed. They think that this kid's boxing and his footwork and his handspeed is gonna be too much, and I love that. Right now I'm just living off of it, feeding off of it, and it just gives me more determination."

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I am very impressed with Martinez's character

He seems humble, honest, respectful and simply nice. Saying that he came away from the Williams fight “content” because he still boxed very well is an admirable and stoical sentiment which I feel othe boxers could learn from.

I noticed that when the horrible scorecard was announced at the end of that fight he just smiled acceptingly, Paul Williams looked more upset about it than he did.

I also think Pavlik comes across well as a person so it will be hard to root for either man. I’ll just be rooting for a great fight and I highly doubt that I will be disappointed.

"All the time he's boxing, he's thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him." - Jack Dempsey

by Drunken cutman on Apr 11, 2010 9:30 AM EDT reply actions

I like both figthers… but yeah… Martinez isn’t a kid.

Stylist is will be a great fight….

I have Martinez winning…

It has been a while sense Pavlik has faced a world class fighter, and I doubt he has dealt with someone who has the lateral mobility that Martinez has.

The thing about Martinez is that I think he can make it a stinker of a fight and just pot shot to the UD. He needs to calm down and don’t get into exchanges with Pavlik. He could with Williams because he really was the bigger man that night, but with Pavlik… he will be facing his biggest test.

"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."

by Zocalo on Apr 11, 2010 3:19 PM EDT reply actions

Martinez is not going to win a decision with that strategy in Atlantic City, so long as Pavlik is still throwing. Heck, Martinez was clearly landing cleaner punches against Williams and how did that work out? If Martinez runs, he loses. Even if that wasn’t the case, moving backward against Pavlik is a problematic strategy.

To win, Martinez will have to fight at a level well beyond anything he’s shown to date. Anything’s possible, but it isn’t likely.

by drivlikejehu on Apr 11, 2010 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions