By Dave Sholler

October 18, 2008 is a date that will always haunt middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. Moving up to 170-pounds for the first time since becoming a star, Pavlik was expected to dominate the aging Bernard Hopkins on that fateful night in Atlantic City.

The power-punching Youngstown, Ohio native was supposed to overpower the then 43-year-old Hopkins with his wicked right hand and snappy jab. Likewise, most figured Pavlik’s youth would serve as the ultimate equalizer against the well-traveled Philadelphian.

Pavlik (34-1, 30 KOs) learned that what is supposed to happen doesn’t always actually happen. For 12 brutal rounds in October, Pavlik was beaten and battered by the slick boxing Hopkins. Unable to walk straight in and land against “The Executioner,” Pavlik was exposed as a one-dimensional puncher. Having shown no lateral movement or boxing dynamic, many wondered if the Pavlik puzzle had been solved.

“It was a bad night,” the 26-year-old admitted. “We’re definitely anxious to get back in there after the Hopkins fight. I’ve got a lot of proving to do. It’s really important to bounce back, especially in my hometown, to look good. Coming off the loss, it’s really important for us to go out there and prove the critics wrong.”

The task of repairing his image will begin tomorrow night when he returns to the middleweight division to defend his world titles against sturdy-chinned Marco Antonio Rubio (43-4-1, 37 KOs) at the Chevrolet Centre in Youngstown (Top Rank PPV). The reigning WBC and WBO middleweight champion realizes that he’ll need a convincing win over Rubio to quell criticisms of his overall talent.

“A lot of great fighters lose fights, but its all how you bounce back,” Pavlik, who prior to the Hopkins fight, hadn’t lost since the 1999 Olympic Trials, said. “The greatest fighters bounce back and keep winning and that’s the only thing I put in my head. You cannot dwell on this (loss to Hopkins) forever.

“I’ve got a big fight with Rubio coming up. I’ve got to train to get ready for him. He’s coming in to take my title. It’s just a matter of putting it in the back of our head and moving on.”

Whether Pavlik can actually erase the Hopkins fight from his memory remains to be seen. His opponent is riding a nine-fight winning streak and has scored stoppage victories in seven of those bouts.

Fighting on the Pavlik-Hopkins undercard in October, Rubio earned a gritty split decision win over Enrique Ornelas to become Pavlik’s mandatory challenger. With a strong will, heavy hands, and a good chin, Rubio could pose a ton of challenges for the champion.

“We’ve watched plenty of film on him (Rubio) and he’s stayed true to his game every time,” Pavlik said. “Rubio’s a come ahead fighter. We’ve been looking at a lot of the films on him, from (fights with Jose Luis) Zertuche to (Alfredo) Cuevas and his last fight with Enrique Ornelas, picking up things that he does.

“You’re going to go in there and you’ve got to fight,” Pavlik continued. You’ve got to go in there toe-to toe with somebody else that wants to beat you, with their own title shot, and you’re defending your title. I will definitely use my talent and ability and my boxing skills. We’re going to use angles and Rubio seems to have trouble with that and we’ll use our hand speed.”

With a blueprint in place to secure victory, Pavlik is confident he can restore his winning ways. Fighting in front of his hometown fans, the champion admits that there is extra motivation heading into the clash with Rubio. Given that many Youngstown fans were in attendance on Oct. 18, Pavlik is hoping to prove that the loss to Hopkins was just a minor speed bump on his road to greatness. In the end, he hopes to prove that he is more than just a big puncher.

“There’s going to be a little nervous energy,” Pavlik said. “You learn how to deal with a lot of that — a lot of pressure, a lot of fans — and I think we have had a lot of good learning experiences here in the last couple years.

“There’s always going to be that little bit of a butterflies or tension. But you know once that bell rings that all goes out the window. I’m excited for the opportunity.”

STIFF JABS

-In addition to Pavlik-Rubio, Top Rank will also offer a split-feed broadcast of Miguel Cotto’s WBO welterweight title fight against Great Britain’s Michael Jennings at Madison Square Garden. The fight will be Cotto’s first since losing to embattled Mexican Antonio Margarito last July. The broadcast, which begins at 9pm, is available via pay-per-view for $44.95.

-Anyone else excited for Paul Williams-Winky Wright? Truthfully, I think this could end up being a great bout. We know that many have doubts about Winky’s inactivity and defensive style, but a fight with Williams could bring out whatever the Floridian has left. Our prediction? Williams by SD.

-Speaking of predictions, how many of you think that Klitschko-Haye and Taylor-Froch actually get finalized this week? Talk about long and drawn out. Hopefully, all sides can come to an agreement. Boxing fans deserve these fights.

-One fight we aren’t too sad is off is Chad Dawson vs. Antonio Tarver II. We never want to see a fighter get injured, especially a competitor we like as much as Chad, but this fight ranks low on our “must-see” list. Dawson thoroughly dominated Tarver last year and we don’t see much changing in bout two.

-Ricky Hatton vowed this week to attack Manny Pacquiao’s body on May 2nd. Just a thought, but does anyone think he’ll even get close enough?