It took 20 minutes or so for Kelly Pavlik to win the Middleweight Championship title, but getting to the big stage required years and years of hardcore, physical and mental preparation.
Rocky Taumoepeau, a former bodybuilding champion, recalls his first meeting with Team Pavlik.
"About 10 years ago, Kelly, his dad and manager, and his boxing trainer, Jack Loew came to see me", Rocky says. "Kelly was a skinny kid in high school. He had started to box and showed promise. The problem was is he didn't have enough power, or the strength to be with someone bigger than him in the ring. They asked me to customize a fitness regimen for Kelly, which I did, and it has not changed significantly since that time.
"I also clearly remember his dad saying Kelly was going to one day become the middleweight champion of the world, so that foresight was pretty amazing".
Rocky's routine for Pavlik emphasizes doing hundreds of weightroom drills in a short amount of time.
"He does 600 repetitions in 10 to 15 minutes, using dumb bells",says Taumoepeau, a Native of Tonga with over 30 years experience in personal training. "Kelly doesn't lift heavy weights. Boxers who do can have their muscles lock up after a few rounds. Kelly's muscles need to be long and tender, not big and bulky. He needs to able to snap his arms for non-stop punching power.
"Kelly's boxing training with Jack, focuses on ring skills and cardiovascular drills, jumping rope and hitting the speed bag and such. They work on footwork and Kelly throws over 2,000 punches per session. Then I take over for the weights workout. He's improved his endurance and strength tremendously. At the end of his last few fights he could have gone many more rounds".
Rocky started training Kelly Pavlik, the Middleweight Boxing Champion of the World since 1998 as his Personalized Trainer for Weight Training.
