Pavlic celebration will be Friday downtown

YOUNGSTOWN — The city will honor its conquering hero — middleweight boxing champion Kelly Pavlik — at a 5 p.m. Friday celebration on Central Square in downtown.

“The Ghost” was asked by Top Rank, his promoters, to be in Las Vegas late Friday so he could be in attendance at Saturday’s super featherweight title fight at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino.

Instead, Pavlik chose to be with his fans in Youngstown and thank them for their tremendous support, said John D’Altorio, who handles public relations, among other things, for the boxer.

“Instead of seeing a big fight in Vegas, he’s staying here because he feels he owes it to the city,” D’Altorio said. “The city wants to give him a party and he wants to thank everybody.”

Pavlik won the WBC and WBO middleweight titles Saturday with a seventh-round knockout of then-champion Jermain Taylor in Atlantic City, N.J.

The details of Friday’s event could be finalized as early as Wednesday, but it will include music and other entertainment as well as Pavlik addressing the crowd.

For the complete story, read Wednesday’s Vindicator or vindy.com