Kelly Pavlik answered a lot of questions about ring rust and time away, as well as how he would feel fighting back at 170 pounds.  Pavlik (38-2, 33 KO’s) knocked Aaron Jaco down in the first round and kept him down with another sharp left hook just 45 seconds into the second round.  Pavlik connected with a shot that landed flush and sent Jaco into la-la land (above).  The Youngstown native will now hope to have a bigger exposure fight, possibly on ESPN2 in early June.

“I felt terrific tonight”, said Pavlik.  “After I hit him a couple of times, he felt my power and started just trying to throw wildly, and that left him open and a little off balance, and I caught him with a good left hook in the first.”

Pavlik looked very sharp in his first in-ring action in over a year.  The former champion felt fresh and showed little ring rust during the fight.  The impressive performance almost guarantees Pavlik a June date on ESPN.  The Ghost also hinted bigger things to come by the end of September in his quest to regain championship gold.

“I will sign to fight someone in June on ESPN, probably June 8th.  The big one is going to be in September though.  I don’t know who I will be fighting in either fight, but hopefully the one in September will be for a belt.”

The knock on Pavlik the last time he fought was that he looked slow and rusty despite winning.  When asked about ring rust, Pavlik set the record straight.

“There was no rust tonight.  I did everything I set out to do.  My punches felt crisp, back to where they should be.”

Pavlik will return to Youngstown for a couple of weeks and then head back to Oxnard, California around the 17th or 18th of this April to start working for the June fight, which should be announced in a couple of weeks.  Top Rank is itching to get one of their most recognizable stars back in the spotlight, and Pavlik seems ready to accept the chance.  The dominant performance he put on in Texas should do plenty toward both the June and September proposed fights.

“I hit him [Jaco] with two very clean shots, two left hooks that sent him down twice.  It was the best I have felt in the ring in a very long time and I look forward to getting back to it and preparing for what comes next.”

Granted, Aaron Jaco is not a household boxing name, but he was 15-2 entering the fight, so he had to do something right although his opposition had never been the likes of a Kelly Pavlik.  The fight accomplished exactly what Pavlik and trainer Robert Garcia wanted it to, showed the world that he still has ‘it’ and wants more of ‘it’.