From Fight Hype
"My timing was off, but we've been sparring a lot, so I'm getting that back. The timing was a key factor at the beginning, you know? I was making great moves and everything was there, but just on a counter, it was kinda just off a little bit, but as we picked up the sparring and we've been going at it, everything is coming back and we still got a lot of sparring ahead of us. I think by fight night, we'll be well tuned...Like I said, once he gets touched, it's a whole different experience. That's going to be our main thing and then, as the fight goes on, definitely pick up the pace and try to perform very good. I hate to say knockout, but I think at this point, for me to get the credit, I'm going to need one, but still, my overall gameplan is just to go in there and if the fight goes 10 rounds, then it goes 10 rounds and we'll be ready to dominate," stated former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik as he talked about his long-awaited return to the ring to face undefeated Alfonso Lopez on the May 7th Pacquiao vs. Mosley card. In part 1 of this in-depth interview, you don't want to miss what else he had to say about the fight as Pavlik reflects on the long journey back to the ring. Check it out!
BT: What's going on, Champ?
KP: Nothing, man. Just getting ready to go workout a little bit.
BT: You got the big return to the ring on May 7th against Alfonso Lopez. How does it feel to put all the issues behind you and just get back to boxing?
KP: It feels good, you know? It's a big reliever. I'm excited about it and anxious to get back in there. I'm pumped up. It's been a long time for me and I'm not a big fan of the inactivity, so to get back into the swing of things again is definitely big motivation.
BT: The issues and injuries kept you out of the ring for over a year, but do you think that maybe the long break may have been a blessing in disguise?
KP: I think so. If you look back, I mean, the longest one I ever had was when I had the staph infection, but that wasn't really a break. I had more of a battle going with that where I just didn't want to heal, and then having a reaction to the medication and everything else, so that kind of had me tied up. That's not what I would call a break. That was more of just going through pure hell. But with this fight, I think it was definitely well needed. I mean, everything is back now in the gym. You know, I got the bounce, spring, my step, punches, motivation, and just the energy level is totally different than what it's ever been. I was an active fighter there for awhile. Even after I won the world title, I stayed active and I think that my body only took so much. I can only take so much of boxing, boxing, boxing. I needed the little time away.
BT: So how's everything been going in training camp? Is there any rust at all or is everything just coming back naturally?
KP: You know, I wouldn't say so much rust. I think a good word for it is timing. Rust to me is when your punches are off, and you feel different, and you're missing a lot, and your power's not there because you're not turning. For me, I'm not having that problem. My timing was off, but we've been sparring a lot, so I'm getting that back. The timing was a key factor at the beginning, you know? I was making great moves and everything was there, but just on a counter, it was kinda just off a little bit, but as we picked up the sparring and we've been going at it, everything is coming back and we still got a lot of sparring ahead of us. I think by fight night, we'll be well tuned.
BT: I'll be honest, I haven't seen too much footage on Lopez. I know he's undefeated, but that's about it. What else do you know about him and what do you expect to see from him come May 7th?
KP: I see a kid that's hungry. When I say kid, I say it in a good way, but he's definitely no spring chicken in the sport. He's my age, but he's definitely got the hunger. This is probably going to be his last go at it. Even though it's not a world title fight, to fight me is going to be huge for him. I'm still one of the bigger names in boxing, so I think this is going to be the perfect opportunity for him and I think he's hungry for that. As far as ability, I see that he's a strong kid due to the fact that he's been fighting up at a heavier weight class and, you know, he looks like he's in pretty good shape, but I haven't seen a lot more than that. I know from some interviews that I got word of from people in camp that he wants to try and box and do everything like that, going off the Hopkins fight. That kind of makes me laugh, but that's fine with me. I mean, I've seen his boxing ability. The whole thing is, you know, once I touch him, as soon as he gets touched, the whole gameplan changes. My thing is, with my experience, what's he going to do, with his experience at that level on that type of stage in front of that type of crowd that night, when he does get hit and everything starts going 1000 miles per hour through his head, you know, what's the gameplan going to be then? That's what we've really been working on. As far as my strength and size, I'm not really worried about him coming down from a heavier weight class due to the fact that I've been walking around, not even trying to put weight on, at 195, so it's definitely not an issue. I think, if anything, I'm going to be stronger and healthier. But as far as it goes with him, yeah, after watching some of his fights, he's just a durable kid; somebody you gotta be ready for and can't take lightly. I've gotta be on my toes. It also helps that I think his last opponent is one of our sparring partners now too, so that helps because you get a lot of inside tips and everything.
BT: He's kind of in a similar situation that you were in the first time you faced off with Jermain Taylor. How important do you think it's going to be for you to set the tone early and prevent him from getting confident in there?
KP: Yeah, I think it's very important to go out there and kind of set the tempo. I don't think we're going to come out gunslinging with this kid the first couple of rounds. I mean, there's no need to; not at this stage of my career. I think I'm going to be in great shape and yeah, when the time is ready, pick up the pace, especially if I hurt him, you know, to get him out of there. But I think the main thing is to come out there and move and do the things that I was doing early in my career, like I did against Taylor; the defense and just making him pay for his misses, and that's going to do the work for itself. Like I said, once he gets touched, it's a whole different experience. That's going to be our main thing and then, as the fight goes on, definitely pick up the pace and try to perform very good. I hate to say knockout, but I think at this point, for me to get the credit, I'm going to need one, but still, my overall gameplan is just to go in there and if the fight goes 10 rounds, then it goes 10 rounds and we'll be ready to dominate.
"My timing was off, but we've been sparring a lot, so I'm getting that back. The timing was a key factor at the beginning, you know? I was making great moves and everything was there, but just on a counter, it was kinda just off a little bit, but as we picked up the sparring and we've been going at it, everything is coming back and we still got a lot of sparring ahead of us. I think by fight night, we'll be well tuned...Like I said, once he gets touched, it's a whole different experience. That's going to be our main thing and then, as the fight goes on, definitely pick up the pace and try to perform very good. I hate to say knockout, but I think at this point, for me to get the credit, I'm going to need one, but still, my overall gameplan is just to go in there and if the fight goes 10 rounds, then it goes 10 rounds and we'll be ready to dominate," stated former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik as he talked about his long-awaited return to the ring to face undefeated Alfonso Lopez on the May 7th Pacquiao vs. Mosley card. In part 1 of this in-depth interview, you don't want to miss what else he had to say about the fight as Pavlik reflects on the long journey back to the ring. Check it out!
BT: What's going on, Champ?
KP: Nothing, man. Just getting ready to go workout a little bit.
BT: You got the big return to the ring on May 7th against Alfonso Lopez. How does it feel to put all the issues behind you and just get back to boxing?
KP: It feels good, you know? It's a big reliever. I'm excited about it and anxious to get back in there. I'm pumped up. It's been a long time for me and I'm not a big fan of the inactivity, so to get back into the swing of things again is definitely big motivation.
BT: The issues and injuries kept you out of the ring for over a year, but do you think that maybe the long break may have been a blessing in disguise?
KP: I think so. If you look back, I mean, the longest one I ever had was when I had the staph infection, but that wasn't really a break. I had more of a battle going with that where I just didn't want to heal, and then having a reaction to the medication and everything else, so that kind of had me tied up. That's not what I would call a break. That was more of just going through pure hell. But with this fight, I think it was definitely well needed. I mean, everything is back now in the gym. You know, I got the bounce, spring, my step, punches, motivation, and just the energy level is totally different than what it's ever been. I was an active fighter there for awhile. Even after I won the world title, I stayed active and I think that my body only took so much. I can only take so much of boxing, boxing, boxing. I needed the little time away.
BT: So how's everything been going in training camp? Is there any rust at all or is everything just coming back naturally?
KP: You know, I wouldn't say so much rust. I think a good word for it is timing. Rust to me is when your punches are off, and you feel different, and you're missing a lot, and your power's not there because you're not turning. For me, I'm not having that problem. My timing was off, but we've been sparring a lot, so I'm getting that back. The timing was a key factor at the beginning, you know? I was making great moves and everything was there, but just on a counter, it was kinda just off a little bit, but as we picked up the sparring and we've been going at it, everything is coming back and we still got a lot of sparring ahead of us. I think by fight night, we'll be well tuned.
BT: I'll be honest, I haven't seen too much footage on Lopez. I know he's undefeated, but that's about it. What else do you know about him and what do you expect to see from him come May 7th?
KP: I see a kid that's hungry. When I say kid, I say it in a good way, but he's definitely no spring chicken in the sport. He's my age, but he's definitely got the hunger. This is probably going to be his last go at it. Even though it's not a world title fight, to fight me is going to be huge for him. I'm still one of the bigger names in boxing, so I think this is going to be the perfect opportunity for him and I think he's hungry for that. As far as ability, I see that he's a strong kid due to the fact that he's been fighting up at a heavier weight class and, you know, he looks like he's in pretty good shape, but I haven't seen a lot more than that. I know from some interviews that I got word of from people in camp that he wants to try and box and do everything like that, going off the Hopkins fight. That kind of makes me laugh, but that's fine with me. I mean, I've seen his boxing ability. The whole thing is, you know, once I touch him, as soon as he gets touched, the whole gameplan changes. My thing is, with my experience, what's he going to do, with his experience at that level on that type of stage in front of that type of crowd that night, when he does get hit and everything starts going 1000 miles per hour through his head, you know, what's the gameplan going to be then? That's what we've really been working on. As far as my strength and size, I'm not really worried about him coming down from a heavier weight class due to the fact that I've been walking around, not even trying to put weight on, at 195, so it's definitely not an issue. I think, if anything, I'm going to be stronger and healthier. But as far as it goes with him, yeah, after watching some of his fights, he's just a durable kid; somebody you gotta be ready for and can't take lightly. I've gotta be on my toes. It also helps that I think his last opponent is one of our sparring partners now too, so that helps because you get a lot of inside tips and everything.
BT: He's kind of in a similar situation that you were in the first time you faced off with Jermain Taylor. How important do you think it's going to be for you to set the tone early and prevent him from getting confident in there?
KP: Yeah, I think it's very important to go out there and kind of set the tempo. I don't think we're going to come out gunslinging with this kid the first couple of rounds. I mean, there's no need to; not at this stage of my career. I think I'm going to be in great shape and yeah, when the time is ready, pick up the pace, especially if I hurt him, you know, to get him out of there. But I think the main thing is to come out there and move and do the things that I was doing early in my career, like I did against Taylor; the defense and just making him pay for his misses, and that's going to do the work for itself. Like I said, once he gets touched, it's a whole different experience. That's going to be our main thing and then, as the fight goes on, definitely pick up the pace and try to perform very good. I hate to say knockout, but I think at this point, for me to get the credit, I'm going to need one, but still, my overall gameplan is just to go in there and if the fight goes 10 rounds, then it goes 10 rounds and we'll be ready to dominate.
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