Thursday, May 29, 2008
Ticket sales: Several thousand Youngstown-area fans traveled to Atlantic City for Kelly Pavlik’s bout with Jermain Taylor last September. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said he doesn’t expect quite as big of a crowd, but he doesn’t blame the matchup for that. “If we don’t get the same number from Ohio as we did for the Jermain Taylor fight, there’s only one person to blame,” said Arum. “His name is George W. Bush. He [messed] up the economy so bad, people can’t afford to buy tickets. And you can print that.” A smaller crowd isn’t an indication that people aren’t supporting Pavlik as much, he said. “I think people are hurting. Gas is over $4 a gallon. People need to wake up and realize what’s happening. The weather is better [than it was in September]. It’s nice in June. Of course they would come if they could afford it. It’s not all left hooks and jabs. It’s other things.”
Next week’s schedule: Pavlik will be in New York on Wednesday for a press conference, then travel to Atlantic City for a Thursday press conference. The weigh-in is at 5 p.m. Friday in the Circus Maximus theater inside Caesar’s Atlantic City. The weigh-in is open to the public.
Documentary: SportsTime Ohio will debut “Kelly Pavlik: Ringside with the Champ” at 7 p.m. Monday. The 30-minute documentary focuses on Pavlik’s life since winning the middleweight title in September. It is the network’s third documentary on Pavlik. All three can be seen in order starting at 8 p.m. June 7. Other airings include Monday night after the Indians-Rangers game (approximately 11:30 p.m.), Tuesday (3 a.m.), Wednesday (6 p.m. and 7 p.m.), Thursday (4 a.m. and approximately 11:30 p.m.) and Saturday (7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.).
Blockbuster on tap? According to a Yahoo! Sports article that was published Wednesday, Arum has had preliminary discussions about a Pavlik bout with unbeaten super middleweight and light heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe sometime in November. Arum said such a bout, if it were made, would be held at 168 pounds. That would give Pavlik, if he defeats Lockett, the opportunity to hold the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight titles at the same time. Only boxing hall of fame inductee Henry Armstrong, considered one of the four best fighters ever, has held three titles at once. Armstrong held the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight titles simultaneously in 1937
Joe Scalzo