KELLY PAVLIK SCORED A HAT TRICK IN THE RING

1. It was almost 2 a.m. in Atlantic City, but the hundreds of Youngstown natives gathered inside Bally’s Casino didn’t seem to care.

Their man, South Sider Kelly Pavlik, had just stunned the boxing world with a seventh-round knockout of Jermain Taylor to win the WBC and WBO middleweight titles.

It was time to party. Sleeping would have to wait.

Pavlik’s year had started with an impressive — and almost completely ignored — eighth-round knockout of former Mexican Olympian Jose Luis Zertuche on Jan. 27 in Anaheim, Calif.

Pavlik hoped it would be enough to earn a title shot against Taylor.

It wasn’t.

Instead, Pavlik was pitted against another dangerous power-puncher, Edison Miranda, in a WBC eliminator bout on May 19 in Memphis.

Miranda was favored to win and acted like it, telling reporters in the pre-fight press conference, “Pavlik is going to be barbecued, just like the ribs are in all the restaurants in town.”

Pavlik smiled, then proceeded to knock out Miranda two nights later, this time in the seventh round.

After a few weeks of uncertainty, Taylor granted Pavlik a title shot. Pavlik had earned respect over the previous months, but not enough. Again, he was the underdog. Again, his opponent spoke big.

“After I whup him, I’ll finally get a little credit,” Taylor said before the fight. “When I watch the guy [Pavlik] on tape, I don’t see him doing nothing. ... I don’t see him being even on my level.”

On Sept. 29, Pavlik showed him something, surviving a second-round knockdown to paste Taylor in the seventh round. Later that night, his fans gathered in the casino lobby to toast their champion.

Pavlik arrived late, sporting a face full of bumps. His fans, who had turned Atlantic City into Youngstown west, cheered. Bruised, but unbeaten, Pavlik had finally earned his title — and the respect of the boxing world, earning “Fighter of the Year” honors from several publications and a cover shot on Ring Magazine.

That night, as the party erupted around him, state representative Bob Hagan took it in and smiled.

“This is so indicative of Youngstown,” Hagan said. “We may go down but we’ll get up and fight again.”