Kelly Pavlik: Anatomy of a Fallen Star

(Photo By Al Bello/Getty Images)

By now everyone knows what happened: Hopkins twisted the kid up and schooled him over 12 one-sided rounds. And to add insult to injury, the PPV show was a total bust and didn't even reach 200,000 buys.

So, with a bruised ego and a refusal from HBO to air his next bout (another mandatory defense of the 160 lb. crown against Marco Antonio Rubio), Pavlik once again went to PPV in another poorly-received event that saw him share the bill with another rebounding star, Miguel Cotto.

Since then, his bout against The Contender's Season One winner, Sergio Mora, originally proposed for the 27th of June, was postponed due to a staph infection, but very well could've been postponed due to Pavlik's growing personal problems or the poor early reception of Sergio Mora as an opponent.

In about a period of two years, Pavlik has run the full gamut of boxing highs and lows.

Before the ill-conceived Hopkins bout, one could point to Pavlik's career as an example of how careers used to be built; of how a career should be built. Pavlik's rise to stardom was based on Free TV exposure against a wide range of opponents and packaged around a hard-working, likable kid from a blue collar town that should not be producing stars.

Somewhere along the way, greed got mixed into the equation and Top Rank/Team Pavlik opted for the quick buck rather than the slow, but steady rise to super-stardom that would've resulted from increased exposure on "free" HBO.

Lost in the mix was a kid in his mid-20's dealing with sudden stardom and immediate demoralization—all over the course of 24 short months.

"The Ghost" is a fighter in every sense of the word, so there's no doubt that he will be back.

But before Kelly Pavlik can regain his boxing mojo, he'll have to fight the fight of his life, against the toughest opponent imaginable...himself.

Update

Since this article has been published, Cameron Dunkin, Pavlik's co-promoter, has denied the allegations, ""He's not in rehab. He hasn't been in rehab. It's not true."

The source of this story is Pedro Fernandez at Ringtalk.com and it was carried by Maxboxing as part of their news wire section.

Despite Dunkin's fierce denial on behalf of his client, it seems like too big of a story to be completely fabricated by Fernandez- especially considering that Fernandez's allegations could surely be seen as vulnerable to legal action.

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