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Kelly Pavlik’s fan base is second to none
By Joe Scalzo
As seen on Friday, Pavlik’s weigh-ins are as big an event as the fights themselves.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Friday’s weigh-in with Kelly Pavlik and Gary Lockett at Caesars Atlantic City featured three men in Roman gladiator costumes, a woman in a Cleopatra costume, several ghost oven mitts, a couple American flags, a few dozen Pavlik signs, and two professional fighters in their underwear (one a millionaire champion, the other an underdog challenger) stepping on scales, posing for the cameras and staring each other down as close to 2,000 rabid Pavlik fans turned the Circus Maximus into a very large and very rowdy bar.
You know, the usual.
Pavlik VS Lockett Weigh-in
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Pavlil Locket Weigh In
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Boxers Kelly Pavlik and Gary Lockett weighed in Friday in Atlantic City.
Pavlik weighed in at 159 pounds — one under the middleweight limit — and Lockett tipped the scales at 159.5, paving the way for tonight’s title fight at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Afterward, Pavlik went to Morton’s Steak House to refuel, where he’ll start gaining the 10 pounds he’ll likely pack on between Friday night and tonight.
As they did last September for Pavlik’s first fight with Jermain Taylor, the Youngstown-area fans took over the weigh-in, booing Lockett mercilessly, chanting “Kelly, Kelly” throughout and giving observers a glimpse of the advantage Pavlik will have on fight night. His weigh-in crowds have become as big of a story (probably bigger, in fact) as the event itself, which only takes about five minutes once the main event fighters take the stage.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Pavlik’s promoter, smiled as he stood on the stage and looked over the crowd.
“It’s great,” he said. “He’s such a nice kid. Forget the fact that he’s a great fighter and a tremendous puncher and courageous. He’s really such a decent young man that people rally for him and they should.
“He’s not one of those trash-talking, wiseguy athletes who thinks the world owes them a living. He’s like they are. He hasn’t been ruined by his success and that’s what makes him so endearing to his fans.”
When asked how many other boxers have weigh-ins like Friday’s, Arum said, “Well, you got to ask the question, ‘How many American fighters have weigh-ins like this?’ And the answer is none.”
Although Lockett said he knew what to expect on Friday, it didn’t stop his camp from trading barbs (and a few unprintable words) with the Youngstown fans, many of whom arrived at the theater two hours before the weigh-in and frequented the bar just outside the theater. At one point, Lockett turned around and pretended to moon a couple fans. And when Lockett was soundly booed before stepping on the scale, his trainer, Enzo Calzaghe, began conducting the crowd.
Pavlik, on the other hand, seemed energized by the crowd and repeatedly pointed at fans and smiled. The gladiators and the woman in the Cleopatra costume accompanied the fighters as they walked to the stage, all part of Caesars’ Roman theme.
“I love it,” said congressman Tim Ryan of Niles, who also attended the February fight in Las Vegas. “I love seeing people from the Mahoning Valley excited about what’s going on back home.
“I think Kelly’s symbolic of the good things that are happening at General Motors and WCI [Steel] and a lot of the local companies. It’s so exciting. You feel like things are really different in the Mahoning Valley and everyone here is just backing our hometown guy.”
Ryan’s prediction, by the way, is a second-round knockout.
“Lockett’s been talking a bunch of trash and I think Kelly’s going to come in and knock him out,” he said.
Although Pavlik has only fought twice in Atlantic City, he’s already drawing comparisons to Arturo “Thunder” Gatti, who regularly drew huge crowds when he fought there. The Press of Atlantic City had a huge spread in its A section Thursday — something that only happens about once a year, according to reporter Dave Weinberg — and Arum thinks Pavlik is drawing coverage not even Gatti could get.
“With Gatti, you could write about his courage and determination, but it was all fight-oriented stuff,” Arum said. “With Kelly, they can write about what kind of person he is.”
That, Arum said, is why fans are so drawn to him.
“I’ve been in this business for almost 44 years now,” he said. “I mean, kids become champion and they become completely different from the way they were before. But with Kelly, he’s the same guy as when he was fighting six-round fights for me.
“It’s a tribute to his town and it’s a tribute to his parents. Kelly is the same down-to-earth simple guy that he’s always been and that’s why people love him.”
scalzo@vindy.com