Pavlik Live | Live from Memphis

It's 5:48 p.m. (4:48 CST) and I'm inside inside the FedEx Center. The first fight is scheduled to start in about 20 minutes. Youngstown middleweight Kelly Pavlik is scheduled to fight Edison Miranda at 10:15 p.m. (9:15 CST) on HBO.

I will give live round-by-round updates on Vindy.com of Pavlik's bout later tonight.

Earlier today, I attended a luncheon sponsored by Top Rank Boxing (Pavlik's promoter) at the Rendezvous Restaurant in downtown Memphis. For those of you who think I attended this mainly to get a free meal, I've got three words for you: Correct-a-mundo.

One of the things you learn down here is that everyone really, really, really loves barbecue sauce. If you go to a media event in Youngstown, you're going to get wedding soup and/or cavatelli. Our appetizer was pickles, pork and peppers (and cheese). Then they brought out barbecue pulled chicken nachos. And then barbecue chicken sandwiches or barbecue ribs. And sweet tea. And a soup-like concotion made out of rice, kidney beans and pork. It was all delicious, but I'd still opt for MVR anyday.

Pavlik is the only Top Rank fighter on tonight's nine-bout card, so the luncheon was to promote the upcoming world welterweight bout between Miguel Cotto (from Caguas, Puerto Rico) and Top Rank's Zab Judah, a black Jewish boxer out of Brooklyn, N.Y. In order to justify attending the free luncheon, here are a couple tidbits:

1. Judah's fight strategy against Cotto is "to hit and not be hit."

2. The fight, according to Judah, "will be a massacre." He also compared himself to a "well-tuned Toyota Civic." Oh yes, he did.

3. Top Rank president Bob Arum said they've already sold $2 million worth of tickets for the fight, which will be held at Madison Square Garden. When he posed with Judah for pictures, they tried to bring over some food. "We Jewish guys don't want any pork," Arum said, cracking everyone up.