The day after for Kelly Pavlik

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — When Kelly Pavlik woke up in his Bally’s hotel room this morning, the first thing he thought about was the previous night’s victory.

“It’s still surreal,” he said in the casino lobby as he left to catch a flight. “After seven years, my dream finally came true.

“And I did it with the help of Youngstown. The support really helped.”

Following Pavlik’s seventh-round knockout of Jermain Taylor, hundreds of Youngstown-area fans poured into Bally’s to celebrate into the night. Pavlik arrived around 2:30 a.m., gave a short speech and celebrated with a few pain-easing refreshments.

His face was bruised and cut and a night’s sleep didn’t help much. Rather than shake hands Sunday afternoon, Pavlik used the side of his tender right fist to bump hands. His nose, which had been popped more than a few times by Jermain Taylor, was swollen and breathing was tough at times because of his sinuses.

“Compared to the [Edison] Miranda fight, it’s not too bad,” he said.

In that fight, which took place in May in Memphis, Tenn., Pavlik had traded vicious blows before scoring a seventh round knockout. Although Pavlik got knocked down in the second round, Saturday’s fight wasn’t nearly as brutal.

Although Taylor’s trainer, Emanuel Steward, dismissed Pavlik before the fight, saying it would only be competitive for a round (he later told people he did it merely to pump up his fighter), Steward had high praise afterward. Steward said Pavlik could have competed with the great middleweights of the 1980s, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler.

For complete story, see Monday’s Vindicator or www.vindy.com.