Distractions are an ally or an annoyance or a dirty word. Manny Pacquiao can’t get enough of them. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. sneers at them, then moves on to the next one. Kelly Pavlik doesn’t know what to do with them. Not yet, anyway
For Pavlik, learning how to manage them, or at least live with them, might be his greatest challenge, bigger even than an Aug. 6 tune-up against left-handed Darryl Cunningham in a super-middleweight battle to reassert himself at his profession’s highest level in a projected fight with Canadian Lucian Bute, also a left-hander.
News about Pavlik for the last year has mostly been about a lifestyle gone awry and a stretch in rehab. A difficult personal trial is hard enough without media attention. With it, the challenge threatens to become a succession of exaggerated cheap shots that can knock out a career, or at least leave a promising one short of fulfillment.
Pavlik’s fight against Cunningham in front of neighbors and the nosy in hometown Youngstown, Ohio, will happen on Showtime’s ShoBox within a few weeks of news about a reported altercation with his brother. According to various reports, they had been drinking. Even if drinking had not been mentioned, the public would have assumed it anyway.
“There’s nothing you can do about that stuff,’’ Pavlik said at the end of a national conference call Wednesday. “Ninety percent of Americans get into fights with siblings. I can’t get into a shoving match with mine. It is what it is.’’
In what is perhaps a good sign in the process of learning how to manage the inevitable, Pavlik sounded philosophical. There were times before his last fight and first one after release from rehab in May when he got exasperated, then annoyed, at repeated questions about the experience.
“Got a new thing I throw out there now: ‘Who cares?’ ‘’ he said when confronted by the question Wednesday. “I just can’t worry about pressure from the public or what people are going to say.
“…I’m going to be Kelly Pavlik.’’
That might be easier to say than do. I get the sense that Pavlik is still stunned to discover how fickle success and celebrity can be. In his early rise to the top of the middleweight ranks, he came across as a nice guy with a blue-collar approach and personality. He was gritty and genuine. Still is. That’s why I’ll be cheering for him, although I wonder if everybody in the Youngstown crowd at Covelli Center will be.
“You know what, I’m not sure,’’ Pavlik said when asked whether he expected a lot of support from a big crowd of hometown fans. “I’m hoping they are. Word is, it’s going pretty good right now. There’s a lot of people still saying they’re going to get their tickets. Mainly, you expect a walk-up crowd in Youngstown. That’s one of the big things, too.
“I’m going to do my thing. I’m going to put on a great show. I’m going to fight as hard as I can. Whatever happens — my true fans, and I’m sure there’s a lot — they’ll be in for a real treat.”
They will be and many also will be back, but only if Pavlik begins to beat back distractions in a compelling comeback that could be as gritty as it is genuine.
Quotes, anecdotes
· A noted publicist, on Zab Judah saying he thought he was getting “a standing eight-count’’ while on all fours after Amir Khan dropped him with a borderline shot on the trunk’s belt: “He must have been talking about a crawling count.’’
· Memo to Tim Bradley: Find the trash can into which Riddick Bowe dumped the World Boxing Council’s heavyweight title belt in 1992. That’s where the 140-pound belt stripped from you this week by WBC President Jose Sulaiman belongs.
AZ notes
· Pavlik (37-2, 32 KOs) said he is fighting Cunningham (23-2, 10 KOs) because is a left-hander, who will help him get ready for Bute. Pavlik didn’t mention Jesus Gonzales (27-1, 14 KOs), also left-handed and his sparring partner before a loss to Sergio Martinez. Gonzales, who is fighting to get in to the 168-pound title mix after a two-year hiatus, plans to continue his Phoenix comeback this fall.
· Thunderstorms tore off the roof of a popular gym, KO Boxing, in south Phoenix a few days ago. Phoenix promoter Michelle Rosado and Phoenix bantamweight Emilio Garcia are seeking donations to rebuild the gym, which is located on some of the city’s meanest streets. An ongoing rebirth of the Arizona market continues in September, first on Sept. 2 with an Alma Carrasco Canez-promoted card at El Zaribah Shriners in Phoenix and then on Sept. 17 with card in Parker at BlueWater Resort & Casino with unbeaten Top Rank prospect Jose Benavidez, Jr., an unbeaten junior-welterweight, in a featured fight. Benavidez, a Phoenix native, is back in trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif.
