PRO BOXING Pavlik ready for Cason at Cafaro; tonight's bout taped for ESPN 2

Featherweight Clarence "Bones" Adams will battle Manuel Sepeda.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NILES -- For the first time since today's Cafaro Field boxing card was made nearly five weeks ago, all the participants and directors were in one place.
The power players from Top Rank Inc. -- Bruce Trampler and Lee Samuels -- along with a coordinating staff, co-promoter George Chung, ESPN, the inspectors of the Ohio Boxing Commission, along with friends, relatives and the media crowded onto a patio at BW-3 at the Eastwood Mall on Monday.
One other group was there as well -- the 12 fighters, their managers and trainers.
Youngstown's Kelly Pavlik (17-0, 16 KOs) will face fellow middleweight Rico Cason (16-7, 4 KOs) in a co-feature at 8 p.m.
"I'm ready," Pavlik said.
Featherweight Clarence "Bones" Adams (41-6-3, 19 KOs) will battle Manuel Sepeda (15-6-2, 6 KOs) at 9 p.m.
ESPN 2 will televise the fights on tape delay beginning at 10 p.m.
Ready to fight
"Kelly has trained hard and he is as ready as he has to be," said Pavlik's trainer, Jack Loew.
Pavlik tipped the scales at 164 pounds at Monday's weigh-in, while Cason came in at 163. Adams, a Henderson, Ky., native, weighed 1281/2 and Sepeda, of Austin, Tex., was 1291/2.
"My goal is to win at all costs and if the possibility of a knockout is there for me, I certainly will take it," Cason said.
Added his manager/trainer James Mullins, "What we know about Pavlik is that he has a big, long jab and that he likes to come in swinging and Rico has been in the ring with a lot of guys like him."
Adams, who now fights out of Las Vegas, is one of just three world champions to ever come from Louisville -- the others were Greg Page and Muhammad Ali.
Adams, who was the World Boxing Association super bantamweight champion, is ranked among the top 10 in the world in his weight class.
Other bouts
After those fights, Niles welterweight Billy Lyell will make his professional debut in a four-rounder with Cincinnati's Christian Nash (2-3-2, 1 KO). Lyell, who graduated from Niles in 2002, had a 47-13 amateur record at Jack Loew's Southside Boxing Club.
The car has three other bouts: Cleveland super middleweight Romero Johnson (6-1, 4 KOs) vs. Columbus' Jose Spearman (20-5-2, 10 KOs); a lightweight fight featuring Angel Hernandez; and a female welterweight four-rounder with Pittsburgh's Shadina Pennybaker and Detroit's Maryjo Sanders.