Tressel honors Pavlik, 4 others

Night of Champions

Gallery

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU

Vindicator Correspondent

BOARDMAN — World middleweight champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik and four other former boxing world champions from the area were honored before nearly 1,000 fans at Mr. Anthony’s Banquet Center Monday night.

Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel was the featured speaker just days after leading the Buckeyes to the Big Ten championship with a victory over Michigan.

Tressel helped salute Pavlik along with former champions Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Harry Arroyo, Jeff Lampkin and Greg Richardson.

Other former area fighters also were honored for their great careers. Roland Cummings, Craig Snyder, Craig Kikta and Ken Siguarani all spoke briefly about the accomplishments of Pavlik.

The event helped raise money for the family of Dante DelSignore, a 14-year-old cancer patient from Boardman who has become a close friend of Pavlik and an inspiration to the champ.

Bob Hannon of WYTV Channel 33 was the master of ceremonies.

DelSignore brought tears to the eyes of Pavlik and most in the crowd when he read a letter he had written that called Pavlik a great fighter and a great person.

“Because Kelly never gave up on his dream,” DelSignore said. “I will never give up on mine.”

The rest of the evening was festive as Tressel was the first to talk about the accomplishments of Pavlik and how the champ helped his team win the Big Ten championship.

Tressel said that Pavlik spent Friday before the Michigan game with the Buckeyes as they watched the seventh-round knockout and got to spend the evening with the champ.

“After that night, I knew we had a heck of a chance to beat Michigan,” Tressel said. “I knew after Kelly got done that if we coaches didn’t screw it up we’d have a great chance to win.

“It’s great to be here to honor a guy who has gained so much national fame for all the right reasons.”

Each former champion also spoke about what it means to be a champion and how Pavlik has continued to inspire the Valley.

Mancini got the biggest applause as he remains Youngstown’s “favorite son.”

Mancini said he never passes up a chance to return home and this was as good a reason as any to show up and honor Pavlik.

The former lightweight champ said he didn’t need to give Pavlik any advice but did tell the champion that he was now the “face of Youngstown,” and he needed to continue to represent the area in the most positive light at all times.

Arroyo said he remembered beating up a young Pavlik in the ring during sparring sessions and he hoped that helped the champ in his fight with Taylor.

Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew, received tons of accolades on the night for not only what he has done to advance the career of Pavlik but what he has done for boxing in the area.

It pleased Loew that the sport was in the limelight locally again.

“I think this is great how everyone has come together here to support the sport of boxing,” Loew said. “For Jim Tressel to come here after a big game and Bob Arum to come after two big fights the past two weekends shows how big a night this is for Youngstown.”

After all the speeches, Pavlik remained true to his humble background.

The champ simply thanked all the people and let them know that they were the ones who inspired him to get off the canvas in the second round of the Taylor fight and chase his dream.

Pavlik also presented Tressel with a pair of gray Ohio State boxing trunks that he wore during the championship bout with Taylor.

The evening was put together by the hard work of Lou Schiavone, Mike Pavlik and Mike Cefalde.