Kelly Pavlik Arrested For DUI: Full Police Report
by Scott Christ on Dec 22, 2011 3:00 PM EST
in Boxing News Analysis
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WFMJ reports as you've likely already seen that former middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik was arrested on a DUI charge last night in Canfield, Ohio. Here's the full police report, and here's an excerpt:
"Upon my arrival I spoke with homeowner who stated that a large ATV and another ATV had just driven away and one of the operators was Kelly Pavlik. At that time I went to Kelly Pavlik's house. Upon arrival myself and Sgt. Touville observed a red ATV in the driveway covered in fresh mud and grass. At that time we also saw the last garage door open with the lights on. We entered the garage where we observed another large ATV the size of a small car. On the ATV's passenger seat we saw the top of the lamp post and the front of the vehicle with heavy front end damage as well as fresh mud and grass on it."
The report also notes that Pavlik was "acting belligerent," "yelling at officers," "swaying from side to side" with "slurred speech," and refused to conduct field sobriety tests, as well as medical attention as there was blood on the back of his head. Pavlik's friend, who initially tried to take the blame for the accident, refused to write a statement due to "his loyalty to Pavlik."
I could preach some, I guess, but it would be a little dishonest. Honestly, if he doesn't shape up, and he winds up a sad case, then that's the way it is.
I've mentioned this before, and seriously, I'm not trying to play armchair psychologist here, or lend any great insight into Kelly Pavlik's life. I don't know the man. But I'm a midwestern white dude born three weeks before Kelly Pavlik. I've known guys like Pavlik my whole life, which is one of the reasons I always rooted for him. And I still do.
I'm not saying it's impossible for him to get his life together, but in my experience guys like Kelly Pavlik are stubborn and generally have some issues with accepting failure or rejection or personal responsibility for a lot of things.
I'm not saying he's a bad guy. I'm saying he's got problems. Whether he wants to fix them is up to him. He's almost 30 years old and he's at a fork in the road where he's got to make a firm choice where he's going from here. There's no good reason that Kelly Pavlik isn't one of the more popular, well-known fighters in the world. Not saying an undefeated all-time great, but the kind of fighter anyone can enjoy watching. When his head was on straight, he was exciting, he was likeable, and he had more star quality than just being the white hope.
But his head hasn't been on straight for over three years now. And it won't be Cameron Dunkin or Bob Arum or Todd duBoef or Jack Loew or Robert Garcia or anyone who gets him back on track. If he gets there, it'll be Kelly Pavlik who does it and nobody else.
I hope he gets there, but I'd be lying if I didn't say the odds appear to be against it.
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The truth is, I think in instances like this we generally see fans basically cheering for the troubled indivdual to crash out completely. I think of how celebrities that are more famous are exploited; this is just a cult version of that. Its a damn shame, because Pavlik’s skill was great, he had tremendous heart, and his fighting style was made to be a marquee guy. Redemption stories are one of the best things in boxing: I think back to how Oleg Maskaev went from being an alcoholic bouncer to returning to prominence as a contender and title holder as a solid example of that. Or any of the many, many Tapia comebacks (though he’s always fallen back into periods of despair). I hope we get to see that with Pavlik, but I’m not holding my breath.
This is only tangentially related, but every time I see Kelly Pavlik dig himself a bigger hole in life, I can’t help but think to myself that Sergio Martinez has one of the thinnest resumes of a #3 pound for pound fighter I’ve ever seen.
I enjoy the story as much as anyone would about a guy who took up boxing late in life and somehow became a world class fighter in his mid 30s. That said, his three biggest wins are Paul Williams, Kelly Pavlik and Sergiy Dzinziruk/Kermit Cintron? And that’s enough to make him #3 p4p? Middleweight is obviously painfully thin right now, but that gives me more reason to argue that both Nonito Donaire and Juan Manuel Marquez should be higher than him on lists, and perhaps Andre Ward and Wlad Klitschko too.
I was there for Martinez-Williams II, and while the knockout was something special (though I think not worth the $400 floor seat I had paid for given that it happened in round 2), I would guess the fight would have been a close war had WIlliams not gotten caught.
Maybe I’m just hating on Sergio because the only time I hear a word from him, he’s talking smack about either lesser fighters (Chavez) or smaller guys (Cotto, Pacquiao, Mayweather). But each time I see him fight, I’m less convinced he’s “special” and more convinced that we can’t seem to forget one spectacular punch.
Her Sergio, why don’t you challenge Andre Ward for a change?
by Competent Laurence Cole on Dec 22, 2011 8:29 PM EST reply actions
To be fair, he beat a pre-shot Cintron (even if the fight was disgustingly called a draw), and arguably deserved a draw in the first Williams fight, back when Williams was legitimately being ducked in two or three weight classes. He also deserves tons of credit for KOing Williams, who had previously been known for a rock-solid chin.
I wouldn’t argue with putting him lower on the P4P list; you have a point that his resume doesn’t stack up to that of a Marquez or a Donaire.
by Verklemptomaniac on Dec 22, 2011 11:33 PM EST up reply actions
well said
i know quite a few men in the same boat as well. life seems to stop at the bottle and its mostly being scared of responsibility,
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