Hometown haven At East Side Civics, Pavlik can be himself

Here, Kelly Pavlik is known for throwing darts and playing pingpong.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

YOUNGSTOWN — The folks at East Side Civics can tell you some stories about Kelly Pavlik.

That’s Kelly Pavlik the person, not the boxer. They know Pavlik as a champion dart thrower, feisty pingpong player and practical joker.

The private South Avenue bar and restaurant is the place where Pavlik comes to be a 25-year-old guy, not a world champion middleweight fighter.

He’s in the bar every day when he’s not training — twice when he has a dart match, said Lori Greenwalt, bar manager.

“This is a safe haven for him,” she said.

Pavlik has a stool at one corner of the bar that’s “his” seat during the off-season. But usually, he’s off in the side room, playing darts or pingpong.

He was on the team that won the dart league championship last year. Every wall of the bar is filled with newspaper photos and posters of Pavlik, but the dart court has a different type of shot — Pavlik and seven other dart throwers with their championship trophy.

His team is on pace to win again, but Pavlik has been on leave as he trains for his match against Jermain Taylor tonight in Las Vegas.

“He’ll be back at darts the first week he’s back,” Greenwalt said.

Pavlik also packs his own pingpong paddles when he comes to the bar, and he’s always up for a challenge.

“People love to try to beat him,” Greenwalt said. “If they do, he wants to try to redeem himself right away.”

But it’s not all about competition, said Ron Cappitte, 45, of Boardman. He pointed to a montage of photos on one wall that had a snapshot of Pavlik with his neck stretched out and a goofy look on his face.

“He’s like an everyday person,” said Andy Diamantes, 47, of Youngstown. “Receiving top billing hasn’t changed him at all.”

Club members told how Pavlik cracked everyone up when he pulled up his pants and did an imitation of Steve Urkel, a nerdy character from the TV show “Family Matters.”

“I’ve known him for 10 years, and he’s never changed,” Cappitte said.

Another club member told the story of playing with Pavlik in a charity golf event last year. Pavlik’s group was behind a tree, but he took out a three iron, hooked it around the tree and put the ball on the green, 240 yards away.

Pavlik was so proud of the shot that he talked about it for months. His trainer, Jack Loew, had heard the story so many times that he finally sought out the other guys in the group to see if it was true.

And then there was the time that Pavlik decided to have some fun on the course. He secretly loosened the strap holding another player’s clubs to the golf cart, and the clubs fell out of the cart on every hole. Six holes later, the player figured out what was going on.

“He loves to joke around,” Diamantes said.

Greenwalt said the club members treat Pavlik like just another guy, which is why he likes to hang out there.

But even the club members can’t resist making a fuss over him after he wins a fight.

“People will stand on the stools of the bar and cheer and clap when he comes in,” she said.

They also try to point out his mistakes, like when he dropped his hands and let a punch in.

Greenwalt said the attention makes Pavlik uncomfortable but he has told her that being nice to fans is part of his job.

“He just tells people, ‘OK. I’ll keep an eye on that,’” she said.

After a week of attention, however, the memory of the fight fades and everything returns to normal for the East Side Civics. The evenings are spent swapping stories at the bar and playing pingpong and darts.

Not that Pavlik stops being a celebrity. After all, he is a member of the bar’s championship dart team.

“Their team does have quite a following,” Greenwalt said.

shilling@vindy.com