The rumors turned out to be true.
Ex-middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, who has fought four times in Atlantic City in the last three years, checked into the Betty Ford Clinic in California earlier this month to undergo treatment for alchohol abuse.
Members of Pavlik’s inner circle, including father/co-manager Mike Pavlik, trainer Jack Loew and co-manager Cameron Dunkin told both Yahoo Sports and the Youngstown Vindicator that the fighter entered the clinic on Nov. 4, just three days after pulling out of a fight against Brian Vera that was scheduled for Nov. 13 in Arlington, Texas.
Pavlik is making his second visit to the Betty Ford Clinic. According to the reports, he was there for two weeks last spring and left just 10 days before he suffered a decision loss to Sergio Martinez at Boardwalk Hall on April 17.
Rumors about Pavlik have been circulating throughout Youngstown, Ohio – Pavlik’s hometown – and the boxing community for a while, though Pavlik and his handlers vehemently denied them. Finally, after being escorted out of a Youngstown bar on Halloween night for unruly conduct, he agreed to return to the clinic after an intervention that involved friends and family members.
Here’s hoping that Pavlik is able to turn his life around. Maybe he will one day be able to return to boxing and become a champion again. Maybe he will one day be able to fill Boardwalk Hall again.
But it’s more important that he regain his life as father, husband, son and person.
Those are really worth fighting for.
