Sunday, October 19, 2008
By Joe Scalzo
Crowd
shatters
his mark
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Wearing a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up, Don Sudon stood outside the Trump Plaza at 8 p.m. Saturday night, shivering, smiling and, more than anything, hoping he could score tickets to the Kelly Pavlik-Bernard Hopkins fight.
“My wife thinks I have tickets,” he said amid 50 degree weather. “I’m looking for something around $75 to $80.”
When one of his friends made fun of his cheapness, he laughed and said, “Put down $250. Help a brother out.”
Sudon, a Lowellville native, went to middle school with Pavlik — “He might know my name, and if I saw him, I’d say hello,” he said — and was attending his first Pavlik fight. They just missed Friday’s weigh-in by 10 minutes and he was determined not to miss anything else.
“I’ll get in,” he said. “I hope.”
As for the shirt, he laughed and said, “I can’t wear a coat inside a casino.”
A few minutes later, he and his friend nabbed three $500 seats for $125 each. Outside Caesars, where Pavlik was staying, a scalper in a Rutgers hat was trying to unload more tickets.
“It’s slow,” he said. “So many people have comp tickets from the casinos, everyone is doing the same thing I’m doing. You can get a $700 seat for $200 or $250. No more than $300.”
Saturday’s fight was Pavlik’s biggest so far and Top Rank spokesman Lee Samuels said the crowd was “way beyond our projections.”
“We’re thrilled beyond belief,” he said.
Earlier, inside Boardwalk Hall, Ryan and Kelly Forbes of Youngstown were making their first road trip for a Pavlik fight. The Forbes, who live down the street from Pavlik’s parents on the South Side, drove through the night and arrived at 2 a.m. Saturday.
“We would have come out for the Gary Lockett fight [in June] but we were in California,” said Ryan. “We weren’t going to miss another one.”
The Forbes attended Pavlik’s bout against Lenord Pierre at the Chevrolet Centre in 2006 and wore Ghost (Kelly) and Executioner (Ryan) costumes for the pre-fight press conference in August.
“We tried to win tickets,” said Ryan.
Dana DePillo of Struthers and John Spirko of Youngstown also arrived Saturday for their first Pavlik bout. They think Pavlik brings pride to the town and helps give out-of-towners something positive to talk about.
“They always put Youngstown down,” said Spirko. “It’s not as bad as they make it out to be.”
They hadn’t had time to enjoy Atlantic City ... yet.
“We’re looking forward to celebrating after he wins tonight,” said DePillo.
“There’s nothing wrong with drinking and gambling,” added Spirko.
Two hours before the fight, Cleveland natives Mike Kepic and Abe Luzier sat in a front row seat in Boardwalk Hall. Kepic was wearing a Jermain Taylor-Pavlik fight T-shirt, patting his belly and smiling.
“We love him,” said Kepic, who works for the Cleveland school systems. “Youngstown is a great town. It’s like Cleveland. People are depressed. Everyone’s struggling to survive. He brought up everyone’s [feelings], in Youngstown and in Cleveland.
“He’s something we can be proud of.”
Luzier, who works for Ford and was wearing a Bowling Green polo shirt, nodded his head.
“He put Youngstown on the map all over the country,” he said.
scalzo@vindy.com