Pavlik prepares for training

LESS THAN 24 HOURS after Ohio State lost the national championship game, faithful Buckeye fan Kelly Pavlik of Youngstown was sitting inside the Southside Boxing Club wearing an OSU knit cap and jacket, trading jokes back and forth with his friends.

Pavlik hadn’t started sparring yet — that part of his training began later this week — but his jab was in good shape as he made fun of his friend John Hutter’s back fat, bemoaned his receding hairline (“It’s looking pretty bad today,” he said, rubbing the top of his head) and bragged about his spelling abilities while autographing a copy of this month’s Ring Magazine.

“I can spell ‘finest’ on the first try,” he said, smirking at one of his friends who had to ask for help.

It was a loose atmosphere for the WBC champion, who started training a month ago for his Feb. 16 rematch with Jermain Taylor (27-1-1) in Las Vegas.

Since defeating Taylor for the WBC middleweight title in September, Pavlik (32-0, 29 KOs) has spent much of his time enjoying — or, at times, tolerating — his emerging celebrity.

Some of it’s been fun — he’s been a guest of the Browns, Indians and Buckeyes and was clearly honored to make the cover of Ring Magazine, which boasts the headline, “A Superstar is Born.”

But the constant public appearances, combined with the increased demands on his time and lack of privacy, have started to wear on him a bit, too. Pavlik has always been one of the most accommodating professional athletes you’ll ever meet, but he relishes the chance to be a regular guy.

That’s become increasingly difficult. He leaves a lot of life’s mundane details — such as grocery shopping — to his girlfriend Samantha and tries to plan ahead for things like doctor visits, particularly after he cut his hands trying to open a window last month.

“It takes a toll,” Pavlik said of celebrity. “No matter what you try to do, it’s hard. When you try to eat [at a restaurant], you have people coming up to you all the time.

“At the same time, it’s nice to have that kind of support.”

His life has changed drastically over the past year, going from an unheralded contender trying to get a title shot to battling Floyd Mayweather for “Fighter of the Year” honors.

But if success has changed him, it doesn’t show.

Other than a new SUV — courtesy of extensive autograph sessions for a local car dealership — and a little more money in his wallet, Pavlik is the same guy he was last January.

“[Top Rank matchmaker] Bruce Trampler once told me you’ll know when you have a true champion because he’ll get 25 percent better mentally and physically after he wins the title,” said Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew. “You can tell in Kelly’s attitude and his work ethic he wants to get better. He had us start 21⁄2 weeks ahead of schedule.

“He was raring to go.”

Pavlik started sparring on Thursday — he’d already been doing things like running and lifting — and won’t change much in his approach until the final week before the fight.

At 6-foot-2, Pavlik is a big middleweight and often struggles to meet the weight limit of 160 pounds. The Feb. 16 bout, however, will be at 166 pounds, meaning Pavlik won’t have to starve himself to lose the last few before the fight.

“It’ll be less running on the treadmill, less time in the sauna,” he said. “But I look at the fight the same way. I’m doing the same stuff, but I have more to prove. I’m going to train even harder.”

Pavlik has fought in Las Vegas nine times in his career, including twice at the MGM Grand. He can recall fighting on the undercard of Oscar De La Hoya main events against Bernard Hopkins and Fernando Vargas when there were only a few hundred people in the audience for his bout. Even his NABF title bout against Fulgencio Zuniga in 2005 was a minor blip on the radar, with about 1,000 people in the stands, Loew said.

“Yeah, it’s totally different,” said Pavlik, who admitted he doesn’t like Las Vegas all that much. “I’ll see my picture on billboards and everyone will know who I am this time.”

That attention won’t be limited to Las Vegas. HBO was in town on Thursday and Friday for a pre-fight countdown show that will air before the fight and the national media will spend a lot of time covering Pavlik over the next month. It’ll be a challenge to maintain focus — and sanity — but Pavlik and Loew are confident they’ll be able to deal with it.

“We’ve arrived,” Loew said. “And we’re going to stay here.”

scalzo@vindy.com