By Mitch Abramson
The question hung in the air like a firecracker.
How will Kelly Pavlik be remembered?
Cameron Dunkin, his former, present and future manager, took a second to mull that one over.
“How will he be remembered?” Dunkin asked, part of him probably not wanting to answer. “Unfortunately, probably not that good; I think they’re going to be harsh on him.”
While it’s still too early to write the obituary on Pavlik’s career, the prognosis, at least for the moment, is not good. In a conversation with Pavlik shortly after he pulled out of his Aug. 6 fight with Darryl Cunningham, Dunkin said that Pavlik indicated he wanted to fight again, but didn’t specify when or where, leaving his career in limbo. Pavlik’s promoter, Bob Arum, also didn’t have any news to report concerning his status.
“There is no update,” Arum said in a brief phone interview on Monday night. “I haven’t heard from him. I don’t know what’s happening.”
Dunkin said he spoke to Pavlik’s dad, Mike, asking him to phone him when he thinks Pavlik is ready to discuss a comeback fight.
“I said, ‘When he’s ready, just call me and let me know,’” Dunkin said. “And if you want me to start looking for something I will. There was no response to that.”
Dunkin is still surprised by the swiftness of everything that’s happened to Pavlik in the last few weeks. Pavlik, 29, abruptly pulled out of his fight with Cunningham just five days before the scheduled date, over money he was to make in a fall bout against IBF super middleweight champion, Lucian Bute. Just months before, Pavlik reportedly checked out of a Betty Ford Center for treatment for alcoholism. Pavlik’s strong words, accusing Top Rank of trying to “cash” him out in a subsequent radio interview, in the days after, didn’t exactly endear him to those promoting his career.
“I was speaking to Arum and we were talking about the situation,” Dunkin said. “And, it’s not like we’re dying every minute for him to fight. If he doesn’t want to fight again, we’re all fine with it. I really don’t care. I don’t want to sound harsh. I told him if you want to fight I’m going to do everything in my power to help, but if you decide that you don’t want to fight, then I support you in that. And he doesn’t respond to that. But [later] all he says is that, ‘I do want to fight.’”
In the end, Dunkin just wants Pavlik to come to a decision that he’s at peace with.
“I want him to be happy,” he says. “I never see him laugh or smile anymore. He used to tell dirty jokes in his own goofy way. He was a fun guy to be around and the last four years, it hasn’t been fun. He just doesn’t look happy. It’s really sad. I want him to be happy, whatever he decides to do.”
Dunkin believes that Pavlik’s competitive nature, and his desire to end his career on a high note may drive him back to the ring.
“Maybe he will come to the realization that boxing will move on without him and nobody will talk about him anymore,” Dunkin says. “Maybe that will make him think that he has do something. I just don’t know.”
Mitch Abramson covers boxing for the New York Daily News and BoxingScene.com.