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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Marco Antonio Rubio has been there.
He knows what it feels like.
And come this weekend, he’s hoping to share the misery with one Kelly Pavlik.
“A loss has an absolute effect on a fighter, any fighter,” the 28-year-old Mexican told BoxingScene.com, through interpreter Julio Gudino. “Whether he’ll admit it or not, everything is different. And no matter what, it does take a little bit of time to recoup.
“That might be to our advantage on Saturday night.”
Rubio, a former regional champion at 154 pounds, gets his initial crack at world middleweight glory when he meets WBC/WBO champion Pavlik at what figures to be a jam-packed Chevrolet Centre in the incumbent’s Youngstown, Ohio hometown.
The main event shares the spotlight on a two-site Bob Arum pay-per-view production – packaged with a comebacking Miguel Cotto’s try for the vacant WBO welterweight title against British import Michael Jennings.
Cotto hasn’t fought since losing his WBA title and his unblemished record against Antonio Margarito last summer.
Similarly, it’ll be Pavlik’s first appearance since his first setback, a one-sided decision loss to Bernard Hopkins in a catch-weight bout last October in New Jersey.
A heavy betting favorite going in, Pavlik was dominated for nearly every minute of every round against Hopkins, eventually losing by a combined 31 points on three ringside scorecards.
And suddenly, though he didn’t forfeit his middleweight kingpin status, the 34-0 record Pavlik carried in looks a bit different at 34-1.
Rubio is hoping it’ll feel different, too. [details]
He knows what it feels like.
And come this weekend, he’s hoping to share the misery with one Kelly Pavlik.
“A loss has an absolute effect on a fighter, any fighter,” the 28-year-old Mexican told BoxingScene.com, through interpreter Julio Gudino. “Whether he’ll admit it or not, everything is different. And no matter what, it does take a little bit of time to recoup.
“That might be to our advantage on Saturday night.”
Rubio, a former regional champion at 154 pounds, gets his initial crack at world middleweight glory when he meets WBC/WBO champion Pavlik at what figures to be a jam-packed Chevrolet Centre in the incumbent’s Youngstown, Ohio hometown.
The main event shares the spotlight on a two-site Bob Arum pay-per-view production – packaged with a comebacking Miguel Cotto’s try for the vacant WBO welterweight title against British import Michael Jennings.
Cotto hasn’t fought since losing his WBA title and his unblemished record against Antonio Margarito last summer.
Similarly, it’ll be Pavlik’s first appearance since his first setback, a one-sided decision loss to Bernard Hopkins in a catch-weight bout last October in New Jersey.
A heavy betting favorite going in, Pavlik was dominated for nearly every minute of every round against Hopkins, eventually losing by a combined 31 points on three ringside scorecards.
And suddenly, though he didn’t forfeit his middleweight kingpin status, the 34-0 record Pavlik carried in looks a bit different at 34-1.
Rubio is hoping it’ll feel different, too. [details]
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