Pavlik backers show and tell their support

Kelly’s fans believe he will win.

By JOHN BASSETTI

VINDICATOR SPORTS WRITER

LAS VEGAS —The fighters may have had the bulging biceps, perfect pectorals and curvaceous calves, but the apparel-wearing fans had them beat.

Those supporting their man at the weigh-in at the MGM Grand weren’t lacking for advertisement for their favorite fighter for tonight’s middleweight rematch between Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor.

The heavily pro-Pavlik section used both verbal and visual means to convey their choice when both boxers were brought to the podium for some scale-time.

Julie Kailer of Youngstown was wearing a warm-up given to her and her boyfriend, Brian Banks, by Pavlik within the last couple of years.

Kailer had it embroidered with the lettering “The Ghost: No Judges Needed.”

Although that’s a great show of confidence, judges will be needed if tonight’s 12-rounder goes the distance.

However, a couple of guys don’t think that’s the case.

“Taylor won’t last more than five or six rounds, at the most,” said Barry Wardle of Poland. “He’s not going to hang with Kelly because I know the way he trains,” Wardle said, nodding to the man standing nearby.

That man would be Paul “Dunner” Dunleavy, who is Pavlik’s strength trainer.

Dunleavy, who operates Ironman Warehouse on Wilson Avenue, is the guy who devises unusual methods of pain for Pavlik: fire hoses, tire beating, sleds, railroad tie squats and rice buckets.

“The rice buckets are what Kelly twists his hands in,” Dunleavy said of the concept of developing more of a snap in the fighter’s wrists.

But Dunleavy shed some light on what may transpire tonight.

“Taylor’s game plan is to go 12 rounds by staying in the center of the ring. He doesn’t want Kelly to get him against the ropes. But he won’t be able to withstand it because Kelly throws too many punches. I say it’ll be over early — like the sixth round.”

Joe Hellman of Boardman was in agreement, saying that Pavlik will win in the seventh with a KO. “Kelly’s power is going to wear on Taylor.”

All stood proudly in their Ghost-wear or “Defend Youngstown” T-shirts.

Tom Miller of Austintown was making another weigh-in appearance, noting that he started attending them since Pavlik began his pro career.

“I’m biased,” the 30-year-old Miller said, “but if Kelly doesn’t make any mistakes and sticks to his game plan and uses his jab, he’ll eventually land a clean one. He’s patient so he set you up, then finishes you off. I don’t see why it won’t be any different than the last outcome. I definitely see it being stopped.”

One spectator with special credentials was former lightweight Harry Arroyo.

“I’m so nervous now. I feel like that’s my son fighting,” Arroyo said of his closeness to Pavlik.

Arroyo said he first met Pavik when Kelly’s mother brought him into the Southside Boxing Club.

“I was in the gym working out, and no one else was around. His mom introduced me to him, and I explained the ins and outs of the game. He didn’t seem to know who I was, but I can understand because I never followed boxing either.”

Arroyo, who turned 50 in October, now lives in North Jackson. He expects another great fight.

“I’m so excited, but I don’t want Kelly to be overconfident. What happened in the second round last time could happen again, but, if Kelly keeps his composure and hits the way he did before, it’ll be all right.

Although Taylor is very fast and experienced and wants to make amends for his previous showing, Arroyo said it’ll be difficult for Jermain to avoid Pavlik’s dangerous right hand for 12 rounds.

Two couples congregated outside the arena were also in Las Vegas, but with a slightly different twist.

Bob and Debbie [Ament] Beachy of Boardman were standing with Bob’s sister, Jackie Wilton and her husband, Derek, of San Diego.

The fight was a sort of reunion of the siblings, while also serving a more somber purpose.

The Beachys had a memorial service for their father, who passed away Dec. 11 after living in Las Vegas for the past 15 years.

“My dad would love to have seen this match,” Bob said about the man whose ashes were scattered at a veterans cemetery in the Las Vegas area earlier in the day.

Jackie and Bonnie were on the Struthers High School girls basketball team that won the Class AAA state championship in 1977-78.

Bonnie, now of Houston, was a senior record-setter on that team, while Jackie was a sophomore who graduated in 1980.

Bob and Debbie’s daughter, Bridget, played basketball at Boardman High before playing at Geneva College, where she is now a graduate student.