City to throw party for Pavlik

The champ chose to attend this event rather than go to a title fight in Las Vegas.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

CITY HALL REPORTER

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

“The Ghost” was asked by Top Rank, his promoters, to be in Las Vegas late Friday so he could attend 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.

What to expect

The details of Friday’s event could be finalized as early as today, but it will include music and other entertainment as well as Pavlik addressing the crowd, said Claire Maluso, the city’s director of events, special projects and community outreach.

“We want to get everyone downtown and bring him in with a lot of fanfare,” she said.

Maluso and other city officials said they’ve received numerous calls this week about planning an event to honor Pavlik. It was something they were thinking of the moment he was crowned middleweight champion of the world.

Also, Pavlik will hold a post-fight press conference at 2 p.m. Friday at Nancy’s Place, 3650 Shady Run Road.

Pavlik received a great deal of support leading up to Saturday’s fight, which attracted at least 5,000 fans from the Youngstown area to Atlantic City. He has been warmly greeted by his hometown fans since his return to the area after capturing the two middleweight titles.

Pavlik will appear on WFMJ TV, Channel 21, at 7 p.m. today. He will discuss the fight and the title with the station’s Dana Balash and Joe Scalzo, a Vindicator sportswriter. The champ will also take phone calls from fans during the one-hour live show.

skolnick@vindy.com