"Right now, my biggest problem isn't between Top Rank or anybody else; it's Ray Mancini. He went to my local paper, The Vindicator, and said all this stuff. It's like who are you? I mean, Ray, if you really want me to start bringing out your personal demons and everything that happened in your life, I can. That's why he moved from Florida to California. So Ray needs to watch his mouth, that's first of all...what has he done with his career? He lost every big fight. He got toyed around with by Arguello. Arguello knocked him out in 14 rounds. He got knocked out by Greg Haugen. He got his ass beat by Livingstone Bramble, twice. He got beat by Camacho. What big name did Mancini ever beat in his life? Nobody...He talks about Youngstown, but he wants nothing to do with Youngstown at all. That's why he moved away. And Ray's had a lot of problems in his life, a lot of big time problems that nobody knows about, worse than me; worse than Kelly Pavlik. Kelly Pavlik going to the Betty Ford Clinic and rehab would be a great story of Ray's life. Ray has a lot of demons, but I'm going to be a respectable man enough for Ray to realize the fact that if he wants me to open my mouth, I'm going to and when I do open my mouth, the public is going to know about Ray and his demons and everything else that happened in his life. So Ray should probably take one step at a time, you know. Don't bite off more than you can chew," stated former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik as he shared his thoughts on recent comments made by Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini regarding his decision not to fight this weekend. You don't want to miss what else he had to say. Check it out!
BT: You've been catching a lot of flak from folks in your own hometown...
KP: That's because you have people like Ray Mancini coming in, opening his mouth, and saying things that he has no business saying. Ray Mancini don't do anything and he's going to come and embarrass me in my home paper? And what's funny is The Vindicator, they haven't called me. They don't want my opinion, you know, because what they want to write is all the bad stuff. Let me open my mouth and let me talk! Fake Mancini. Fake Youngstowner.
BT: Ray Mancini came on record to speak on your decision not to fight?
KP: Every time something happens with Kelly Pavlik, Ray's gotta open his mouth and be like, "Oh, Kelly didn't do this for Youngstown. He didn't do this, he didn't do that." Well Ray, what did you do for Youngstown? You moved away; you went to Los Angeles, you know? That's the one that bothers me the most because he's the one that's in the paper; Ray wants all the media's attention. That's how he is; he's an attention getter. Ray wants to be the guy in public. Right now, my biggest problem isn't between Top Rank or anybody else; it's Ray Mancini. He went to my local paper, The Vindicator, and said all this stuff. It's like who are you? I mean, Ray, if you really want me to start bringing out your personal demons and everything that happened in your life, I can. That's why he moved from Florida to California. So Ray needs to watch his mouth, that's first of all. He moves to Florida and has to leave Florida because of all the personal problems with his daughter and everything else, and he goes to California and thinks he's the most prestigious person in the world. I wish Harry Arroyo would've fought him. Second of all, what has he done with his career? He lost every big fight. He got toyed around with by Arguello. Arguello knocked him out in 14 rounds. He got knocked out by Greg Haugen. He got his ass beat by Livingstone Bramble, twice. He got beat by Camacho. What big name did Mancini ever beat in his life? Nobody!
BT: Wow! What made him want to speak on your situation?
KP: There's no reason. If you think about it, okay, Harry Arroyo was a great, great champion in Youngstown. He probably would have smacked around Mancini; he probably would have. I loved Harry. Harry never once bad-talked me or says anything bad. He's happy of the accomplishments that I had. You would think that Ray would embrace me. The big thing right now, it's not so much about Top Rank. It's about Mancini going to my local paper and opening his mouth. The guy's got plenty of demons and if he wants me to, in due time, I will open my mouth and there's nothing he can do about it because I'll tell the truth about everything that he has going on in his life. Ray needs to watch everything he says. And second of all, Ray don't know anything about boxing. The guy was hand fed everything that he had in his career. I mean, being honest, I beat Jermain Taylor. I lost to Bernard Hopkins and Sergio Martinez. Bernard Hopkins made history and is a classic fighter, and Sergio Martinez is the number two pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Ray Mancini lost to Greg Haugen, Livingstone Bramble, Camacho, Arguello; he never beat anybody named. And whatever happened between him and Deuk-Koo Kim, that's his problem. He has to live with that for the rest of his life, but he got more problems than Deuk-Koo Kim. You know, Mancini goes out and parties himself, but he lives in California and nobody knows about it, so it's not a big deal. I don't think Ray had any business starting a wine company because, you know, if you keep stealing off of the top of your own product, you're going to lose money. I'm being serious.
BT: What all was he saying to your local paper? What kind of stuff was he talking about?
KP: Oh, he said everything. He said that what I did, you know, the fans in Youngstown worked their ass off to make this amount of money and for me to sit here and say what I was saying...you know, it's horrible. He ran me down, and for Ray to do that, Ray's gotta watch himself. He really does. I've never in my career said one thing bad thing about Ray Mancini, about Greg Richardson, Jeff Lampkin, Harry Arroyo...I've never. I've always respected them, and for Ray to turn back around and say what he says about me; he's the only one that always does that and Ray's gotta watch his mouth because Ray's got a lot of demons and I will open up a can of worms and if Ray wants to go there, he's going to regret it. Believe me. I mean, he's got enough problems with his daughter. What he really needs to do is bite his tongue. Like they say in life, less is more. Mancini got a pass his whole entire career. He didn't want to fight Arroyo, but he's going to open his little mouth. "Oh, Kelly Pavlik did this, did that." Well, hey Ray, you're a fucking hypocrite! You got guys like that; he had no real accomplishment in his career in boxing. Name me one big name fighter Mancini beat. Take Deuk-Koo Kim out of the picture because he killed the guy in the ring. What did he ever accomplish in his career? Every decent fighter that he fought, he got beat by. And not only that, he got knocked out! And he wants to turn back around in my hometown, where I still live, and I made more money in my career than Ray Mancini ever made; and it's nothing to brag about. I'm not saying how rich I am, but I've made more money than Ray's ever made, first of all. I made more money in endorsements than Ray's ever made. He's going off to Los Angeles and trying to be a movie star in some B-rated, class B fucking movies. He has no acting career. He talks about Youngstown, but he wants nothing to do with Youngstown at all. That's why he moved away. And Ray's had a lot of problems in his life, a lot of big time problems that nobody knows about, worse than me; worse than Kelly Pavlik. Kelly Pavlik going to the Betty Ford Clinic and rehab would be a great story of Ray's life. Ray has a lot of demons, but I'm going to be a respectable man enough for Ray to realize the fact that if he wants me to open my mouth, I'm going to and when I do open my mouth, the public is going to know about Ray and his demons and everything else that happened in his life. So Ray should probably take one step at a time, you know. Don't bite off more than you can chew. That's the bottom line.
BT: I have a funny feeling that after this interview goes up, you're not going to hear too much more from him (laughing).
KP: If Ray was smart, Ray would retract everything he said. If he wants to go blow for blow, go ahead. What are you going to say Ray? Yeah, I've been to rehab, twice. I've lost to Bernard Hopkins and Martinez. I've already won 8 more fights than you.
CLICK HERE TO READ PART 2 OF THIS EXPLOSIVE INTERVIEW WITH FORMER MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION KELLY PAVLIK
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