Pavlik vs. Martinez: Ghosts & Gods
Written by Troy J. Hines, Friday April 16 2010
In the 2nd century (AD) tale The Doubter, by Lucian of Samosata, one character lives inside of a tomb near a cemetery to prove that the recently departed, or ghosts, do not exist and cannot haunt the living. But what if Ghosts do exist?
Twice, the public had been awaiting a possible exorcism of Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik (36 [32kos]-1-0), courtesy of boxings’ most avoided man, Paul Williams, but we will now see him face off against Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez (44[24kos]-2-2) on Saturday, April 17th at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, or on HBO.
Pavlik, a Youngstown, Ohio native, haunts the careers of Edison Miranda and Jermain Taylor. After they faced him, they were never the same. Their chins were no match for an overhand right that seems to come out of the grave only to place his opponents in it.
Like the history of Pavlik’s birth city, a metal producer, the WBC and WBO Middleweight Champion has the stopping power of a steel pipe, and unfortunately hard hats are illegal in the sport of boxing.
But ironically, the man Pavlik is facing has as many ghost-like attributes as he does. How can you hurt what you can’t hit?
Maravilla’s defense is vaporous, and his feet are as fast as any Middleweight in the world. He disappears, reappears, and counters with efficacy. So much so, that he confidently puts his hands at his sides with examples in both the Cintron and Williams bouts. He clowns and clocks, slips and slides, and has won 44 of 48 fights using his speed and ring intelligence. If he slides right, away from the “rusty hammer”, he may be able to outpoint the blue collar champion if he isn’t out cold.
So can the south paw from the Roman Catholic capital of South America perform a séance and make repeated contact with the Ghost from Youngstown?
If he does, he will have to worry about the Ghost making contact of his own; devastating contact. The kind of contact that can make any fighter do the famous Exorcist “spider-walk” towards the canvas. So like every great exorcism, bring lots of Holy Water. Espiritu Santo.
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