By Ryan Burton
Earlier this week on The Boxing Lab we welcomed former middleweight king Kelly Pavlik to the show.
Pavlik recently made the transition to Oxnard, California where he has been training under the tutelage of Robert Garcia. The Youngstown, Ohio native has been in camp for seven weeks and said that Garcia and his team have made him feel right at home.
"It has been really good to be honest with you. I thought it would be a little hard at first but I've been in training camps in Vegas and other places (outside of Youngstown) before," stated Pavlik.
"They have made me feel really at home here. They have welcomed me in. I think it's been great. I've been really pleased with the way training has been going," he continued.
Pavlik said that Garcia put his mind at ease early on when he told him that he wasn't going to try to change his style. He said that Garcia has instead focused on making subtle changes.
"I really liked that at first Robert told me that I don't want to change you. I'm a firm believer that you can't change someone who has been boxing this long. He has me sidestepping and working on angles and also countering," Pavlik told The Boxing Lab.
According to Pavlik, one of the main changes that Garcia has made has been getting him to counter more often. Pavlik said that his defense was never as bad as it was made out to be but that he didn't throw enough counter punches when the opportunities presented them self.
"People always knocked me for my defense but it's not that bad. I got into a habit of blocking but not doing anything off of that. I'm throwing uppercuts and short hooks off of that and throwing more punches," said Pavlik.
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