By Mark Vester
Jack Loew, trainer of WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, says the October 3 title defense against Paul Williams is a very dangerous fight. This is Pavlik's third defense of the middleweight titles. The first two, against Gary Lockett and Marco Antonio Rubio, were easy. This defense will take Pavlik to the limit.
“People traveling to Atlantic City are going to see a very, very good matchup,” said Loew to The Vindicator of Youngstown. “This is no Gary Lockett fight. This is a legitimate, real fight. It’s going to be a very dangerous fight.”
While many are not giving Williams any credit for his power at middleweight, Loew says the former welterweight champion can punch at the weight and his workrate of throwing 100 or more punches per round is overwhelming to many fighters.
“He’s a good fighter. He throws a bunch of punches and he can punch. Paul Williams has huge balls. I give him all the credit in the world for jumping up in weight. There was nobody for him at 154 pounds and nobody but us at 160," Loew said.
Loew, like many others, is very curious about Williams' ability to take a punch from a legit middleweight banger. Loew knows that Pavlik can take a good punch, but he plans to find out if Williams can.
“I don’t know how he’ll react when he’s in there against a legitimate, big-punching middleweight. He’s never fought that caliber of fighter, while we’ve fought much bigger people than Paul Williams. I think people are going to see a stronger, healthier Kelly Pavlik. He’s going to step up to the plate and take care of business,” Loew said.
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