Pavlik’s list still growing

By Joe Scalzo

Youngstown’s Middleweight champion

As many as a dozen fighters have been mentioned as the next opponent.

YOUNGSTOWN — St. Luke’s Banquet Center on South Avenue can easily seat a few hundred people, making it just big enough to hold all the boxers mentioned as possible opponents for Kelly Pavlik’s next fight.

The latest front-runner is WBO welterweight champion Paul Williams, best known as “The Punisher” to boxing fans and “Who?” to everyone else.

“I heard his name mentioned; that’s about it,” said Pavlik’s trainer Jack Loew. “I’ve heard way too many names.”

Pavlik’s promoter, Bob Arum, told ESPN.com earlier this week that he’s targeted Williams for a Sept. 27 bout in Atlantic City on HBO.

Pavlik, however, said Saturday there are still a lot of names in the mix.

“It’s still up in the air,” he said. “There’s so many different names out there. Raul Marquez Winky Wright. John Duddy. ...”

Arum told ESPN that junior middleweight Sergio Mora, who won the first season of “The Contender,” wanted too much money. The same applied to Wright, who is trained by Valley native Dan Birmingham.

“Yeah, but you never know what will happen with that,” Pavlik said of Wright’s demands. “Right now, Winky is probably not the most likely guy.”

Pavlik ultimately wants to unify the belts, which means he’ll eventually target IBF champion Arthur Abraham and WBA champion Felix Sturm.

An Abraham bout seems unlikely to happen this year, but 2009 is very possible. Sturm may be more difficult to nab and Arum had been hoping that American Randy Griffin would win the title in Saturday’s rematch with Sturm in Germany. Sturm, however, won by unanimous decision.

The biggest bout for Pavlik, of course, would be against former super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe, who recently vacated that title in order to fight Roy Jones Jr. at light heavyweight.

“We want to fight him,” said Loew. “But we can’t force him to fight us.”

In the meantime, Loew’s focus is on a new gym. He’s in discussions to buy a building on Market Street to house the new Southside Boxing Club and said he should know this week whether his bid is accepted.

If it isn’t, the city has already promised him a plot of land next door, where he would build a new 4,000 square foot gym. The current gym is about 875 square feet.

“A new gym is a must for us and my future,” said Loew, who said it would take about three months to build a new gym.

Pavlik and Loew appeared at Saturday’s Johnny Swanson Memorial Dinner, which honored one of Loew’s former fighters and helped raise money for the Southside Boxing Club.

Swanson, who died two years ago at age 26 from asthma complications, had dreamed of opening his own gym.

“This event will not only keep Johnny’s name around in the area, but it’s going to help with some of the equipment in the new gym and help kids have a chance to go national tournaments if they couldn’t afford it before,” said Loew. “It really means a lot.”

Charity auction items included an autographed basketball from Cavaliers forward LeBron James (minimum bid $500), autographed posters by Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and autographed helmets from Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, Nebraska coach Bo Pelini and Arizona coach Mike Stoops.

Loew said a new building will not only allow him to reach more area kids, but also to help him attract top professional and amateur fighters.

“We have kids scattered out on the sidewalk right now,” he said. “I just don’t have enough room.”

scalzo@vindy.com