Pavlik’s popularity is huge in the region, but there’s room to grow nationally

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew, was in Cincinnati last month for the Ohio State Silver Gloves amateur tournament and spent much of his time shaking hands and accepting congratulations from fight fans.

“You’d see kids in the ring who couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time, but they’d say, ‘Hey, there’s the next Ghost!’” Loew said. “That kind of thing is happening everywhere.”

Pavlik’s improbable rise from unknown slugger to middleweight champion has certainly garnered attention, both locally and nationally, but what many boxing fans want to know is, is Pavlik-Mania making the fight game more popular?

Before Pavlik’s victory over Jermain Taylor in September, Top Rank Boxing chairman Bob Arum predicted Pavlik would revitalize boxing in the Midwest.

He’s not backing away from that declaration.

“Yes, he is reviving interest,” Arum said. “Sports Illustrated, for example, gives very short shrift to boxing, yet they had four-page article with pictures and everything. That’s wonderful.

“And Jim Rome has the kid on a special coast-to-coast radio interview,” Arum said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but it really is happening. Everybody is talking about him.”

The interest starts at the local level. This paper has devoted considerable space to Pavlik’s rise, of course, but his reach extends to other parts of the state and Western Pennsylvania. Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer regularly prints articles about Pavlik and newspapers in Pittsburgh, Akron and Columbus have run stories as well.

SportsTime Ohio was one of the first to showcase Pavlik, running a one-hour special before last May’s bout with Edison Miranda.

And, of course, HBO has jumped on the Pavlik bandwagon, sensing a fresh face that can draw in new viewers.

“That kind of attention really makes a difference,” Arum said.

Loew’s stable of fighters at the Southside Boxing Club has doubled over the past year, from 15 to 30. He could have more, but there’s no room to put anyone else.

“I don’t know about other areas, but in this area, I’m packed,” Loew said.

Pavlik’s personality, combined with his fighting style, his background, his talent and, yes, his race all combine to make his a unique situation. Pavlik brings back average boxing fans, Loew said, but he also brings in new ones.

“I have talked to guys where their wives were sitting there with them and watching the fight because they basically had to because that’s what was on TV that night, that their husband wanted to watch,” Loew said. “It was like a Rocky story. After that second round [when Pavlik survived a knockdown], everybody loves Kelly.

“His dramatic comeback and his humbleness after the fight. He talks about Youngstown and I think every fight he’s mentioned Youngstown and it really sticks with these people,” Loew said. “So he’s meant the world to this town. And I just think there are a lot bigger things for him to conquer.”

But will he? Boxing promoter Mike Acri, an East Side native who now lives in Erie, Pa., represented Pittsburgh’s Paul Spadafora, the former IBF lightweight champion.

Spadafora’s rise revitalized boxing in Pittsburgh, but it didn’t spread much beyond that, Acri said.

“In Pittsburgh, it definitely made an impact,” Acri said. “Boxing was dead in Pittsburgh. He made an impact in the gyms and he drew big crowds.

“To say that he transcended other areas past Pittsburgh, that’s debatable.”

Which is why, Acri said, people shouldn’t get ahead of themselves with Pavlik.

“He hasn’t defended his title yet,” Acri said. “He’s only had one [title] fight. Let’s not get silly.

“In the Youngstown area, maybe Akron or Cleveland, he can potentially have some impact,” Acri said. “But to say he’s going to do that this early in the game, it’s a little premature. I tend to think he’ll definitely entice kids to go to the gym and work out, even if they don’t become amateurs or professionals.”

To have a bigger impact, Pavlik needs to do two things — keep fighting big fights and keep winning. His title bout against John Duddy in June in Madison Square Garden has the potential to be big — both are hard-punching fighters with rabid fan bases — and Arum wants Pavlik to fight in Cleveland later in the summer that could draw large regional interest.

“There are guys out there, like Duddy, Giovanni Lorenzo, Arthur Abraham and if you edge up to 168 [pounds], guys like [Joe] Calzaghe and [Bernard] Hopkins,” Arum said. “He has a big fight in June, and when you go on from there, he can do some spectacular things.”

The key is patience, Acri said.

“Let’s wait a little bit and see what happens,” Acri said. “Let’s be honest, if he loses Saturday, what does that mean? If he wins, he’ll go on to bigger and better things.

“Our sport’s in trouble, but Kelly’s a breath of fresh air.”

scalzo@vindy.com