A BREATH OF FRESH AIR IN THE SPORT

By Joe Scalzo | September 28, 2008 at 1:21a.m.

Kelly Pavlik 2008, A Year in Pictures

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Reflections on Pavlik- Bill Lewis

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Vindicator Photographer, Bill Lewis, reflects on the past year of Kelly Pavlik Coverage.

Reflections on Pavlik: Joe Scalzo

Video

Sports writer Joe Scalzo reflects on the past year with Pavlik.

BY JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

MONDAY MARKS THE one-year anniversary of the first Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor fight. Here’s a look back at that magical night, as well as how Pavlik’s life has changed over the past 12 months, focusing on his boxing career, his celebrity status and his personal life.

BOXING CAREER

Pavlik: “The first thing that pops in my head about that night? Definitely the [second round] knockdown. Then I have to say the locker room after the fight. People were coming in and calling me champ. Everything I dreamed about finally happened. We didn’t get to the postfight party until close to 2:30 or 3 in the morning. I didn’t even take a shower.”

Jack Loew, Pavlik’s trainer and professional driveway sealer: “When he went down in the second round, I thought I’d be sealing driveways the rest of my life. But you know, when I woke up the next morning, I don’t think it still really hit me. It just seemed like another fight to us. A fight that we struggled through but we won. We knew it was a great middleweight fight. And it was. It was just a great moment.”

Kevin Iole, Yahoo! boxing writer: “The fight that I really think changed opinion of Pavlik was the way he handled Edison Miranda [in May 2007]. He stood toe-to-toe with a guy perceived by many to be bigger and stronger. He not only took Miranda’s best shots, but he took Miranda’s heart from him. The win over Taylor was affirmation of that.”

Joe Salman, Pavlik’s friend and darts teammate: “I remember when him and my brother would play a boxing game on Playstation or XBox and he’d say to Kelly, ‘Just wait until you’re the champ and you’re on these games.’ We all knew he would do it. It seems like there wasn’t a doubt. It was just a matter of giving him the chance. Once he got that, he wasn’t going to lose.

Mike Jr., Pavlik’s older brother: “It’s hard to remember anything from that night. I remember me and my dad calling my mom from the ring. The rest of the night is a blur. The next day, we almost had to pinch ourselves, it was so surreal. There was so much emotion. It was the biggest party of our lives and we were living in the moment. We stayed awake in the hotel until like 3 in the morning talking about, then we jumped on a plane a few hours later and went home. It was amazing. Oh man, it was amazing. That could happen again. You never know. This fight coming up could be one of the greatest fights anyone’s ever seen. We don’t want that to happen, though.”

John Loew, Pavlik’s friend and son of his trainer: “He got more loose after the Taylor fight. Everything was accomplished. He’s still got more to accomplish, but the championship was won. Now it’s just fun.”

Jack Loew: “I think right now he’s at the top of the boxing game. When you can bring Ken Condon [of Caesars Atlantic City] to a city like Youngstown, Ohio, for a 10-minute press conference, that’s saying something. They’ll go out of the way for Kelly Pavlik. That’s huge business when Kelly fights in Atlantic City. I don’t think Kelly’s at the top of his game yet. I think he’s one of the hottest fighters out there right now. I think he had a lot to do with the big surge in the popularity of boxing all of the sudden. I think after he knocks out Bernard Hopkins, it just takes him to a whole ’nother level.”

Hopkins: “A true fighter wants to fight the best, and Kelly Pavlik is a true fighter. Win, lose or draw, I feel Kelly wants to show he’s the best and it’s his time. Why I respect Kelly Pavlik has nothing to do with whether I’m going to kick his [butt] or not, because I am. But I respect Kelly Pavlik based on what? He got the championship the right way and not fraudulently given to him like Jermain Taylor.”

Iole: “Clearly, his success has been a boon to boxing, particularly in the East and Midwest. People love punchers and they love guys who are gunslingers, willing to stand in there and trade and see who winds up standing. Pavlik epitomizes that. He’s a breath of fresh air in the sport.”

Pavlik’s father, Mike Sr.: “It’s a terrible sport. And in the promoter’s eyes and everyone else’s eyes, you’re only as good as your last fight. Ray Mancini summed it up best when he said you can go from champ to chump in one fight. Hopefully he fights for a little longer and decides to retire undefeated. And hopefully, when he hangs up the boxing gloves, they stay hung up.”

CELEBRITY STATUS

After six years of climbing the middleweight ranks, Pavlik’s win over Miranda changed his life — for better and worse. He’s enjoyed hanging out with the Browns, Indians and Cavaliers. But it’s become more difficult to do normal things such as go to the grocery store. He even garnered national news — and a little bit of hate mail — for his endorsement of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.

John Hutter, Pavlik’s friend and one of the trainers at Southside Boxing Club: “Kelly was the same after he won the title. Even now, he’s the same. He’s goofy. He’s funny. He still works out at the same place. They got on him about his shoes today at the Ironman Warehouse. Dunner [Paul Dunleavy, the owner] said, ‘Kelly, you’ve got to wear better shoes here.’ But those are his favorite shoes.”

Iole: “I think Pavlik’s biggest fights are still to come, so that will be the barometer of whether he’s changed. But I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far. He has handled his success fairly well. He’s kept the same people around him and, more importantly, has kept the same attitude. A lot of times, guys adopt an elitist-type attitude when they win a title and they forget about the blue-collar work ethic that made them champions. They also forget the folks who helped them. From all indications, Pavlik is unaffected by the success he’s had.”

Jack Loew: “Even though he’s from the city and he’s got millions of dollars now, I don’t see no change. The only change I see in Kelly is how he handles things better. He handles things more maturely. Kelly is what he is. There’s no faking. He gets out of the car with his hat on backward with a chew in his mouth. That’s Kelly Pavlik.”

Pavlik: “It started sinking in when all the phone calls started coming in. [Ohio State coach] Jim Tressel called and said he wanted me to speak to the team. And [Browns coach] Romeo Crennel calls. Things like that right there make you start thinking, ‘I guess I did make it.’”

Mike Sr.: “The story I love is when he was throwing the ball out for last year’s American League Championship Series against Boston. He was a little nervous about being in the clubhouse because he’s a big Indians fan. And he walks in there kind of meek and when the Indians saw him, they rushed up to him. They were more anxious to meet him.”

Jack Loew: “I think [the fame] really hit me and Kelly a month later [after the Taylor fight]. We went to this golf outing, and they treated me and Kelly like gods. Gave us gifts and threw shirts at us. We’re walking to the car — I think it was at Squaw Creek — and I’m like ‘This must be a pretty big deal to people, huh, Kelly?’ And he’s like, ‘I guess it is.’ We just laughed.”

Mike Sr.: “One day, Hillary Clinton called and Kelly’s like, ‘Yeah, right. Who is this?’ And she’s like, ‘No, this really is Hillary Clinton.’”

Pavlik: “The only hard part of being a celebrity is having to turn people down for autographs. If you do one, you have to do the rest. As far as everything else, people in the area are starting to get used to it.”

John Loew: “You see Mike Tyson in the crowd at fights and the kid comes up to him afterward and Tyson just like gives an attitude and signs it but doesn’t want to sign it. Kelly will tell a girl, ‘Wait outside, wait outside; I have to go in for the weigh-in,’ and he’ll come back. He emphasizes making sure people aren’t let down about not getting autographs.”

Jack Loew: I know one thing. Two hours ain’t enough for a signing. He was at the Eastwood Mall. People were lined up at 7 o’clock in the morning. People were lined up for a 10 [p.m.] to 12 signing. At the end of it, there was still a line the length of the mall. He’s just like a rock star.”

Salman: “I remember we went down to Columbus for a [billiards] party hosted by Mike Vrabel [of the New England Patriots and Ohio State Buckeyes]. A bunch of Ohio State guys were there ... [former coach] John Cooper, [former players] Joey Galloway, Bobby Carpenter, Mike Nugent. [Former basketball player] Greg Oden. And they all couldn’t wait to see Kelly. We went there to get our VIP passes so we could walk around and they were like, “You have to wait. Vrabel wants to give these to you himself.” It was crazy. They were thanking him for coming down.”

Mike Sr.: “We never realized how big in people’s eyes a world champion is. Not taking away anything from a football player or someone who plays for the Vikings or something. But for whatever reason, a world champion is just so recognizable. People have to come up and say hello.”

Jack Loew: “We wanted this position, and you deal with it. You deal with the good and you deal with the bad. Not everybody loves Kelly Pavlik. If you hear negative things, that’s another thing he’s learned. He slides with the negative things. If it’s not true and he knows it’s not true, it doesn’t bother him anymore. Whereas before, there were always the haters out there. ‘Oh, Kelly didn’t do this and Kelly didn’t do that.’ It used to bother him and especially big Mike Pavlik. Now it’s just, ‘Ah, whatever. You’re mentioning our name, at least you’re thinking about us.’”

Pavlik: “My daughter [Sydney Ellyse, who is 21⁄2 years old] understands a little bit about the fame thing. There’s a billboard of mine on South Avenue and she’ll see it and say, ‘That’s daddy.’ On TV, anyone who looks even close to me besides Uncle Fester, she’ll say, ‘That’s daddy.’ She knows I’m on TV a lot. I think it’s hard for her to pick up exactly what I do. Hopefully I’ll be retired before she realizes it.”

Interestingly, Pavlik’s fame has spilled over to his gym, the nondescript red brick building near the corner of Erie and Lucius. Jack Loew will move into a bigger building a few miles away on Market Street after the Hopkins bout.

Jack Loew: “I was in here cleaning up on a Sunday and this guy was taking pictures outside. I thought [the city] sold the place. I thought I lost it somehow. I said, ‘Can I help you?’ He said, ‘Nah, I drove in from New York today to take some pictures of your gym. Don’t worry. I’m not going to bother you.’ I said, ‘You drove in from New York just to take a picture of the gym?’ He said, ‘I’m leaving right now. I’ve got to work in the morning.’ It was five, six months ago. I’m like, ‘This is weird.’ It’s pretty normal now. I see people driving by, bus drivers stop, people screaming in the door. ‘Go, Ghost!’ It’s become a regular thing.”

PERSONAL LIFE

Pavlik got engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Samantha Kocanjer, in December and they married in Hawaii in July. A second child is on the way. Although they own a house in Boardman, Pavlik still stays at his parents’ South Side home during training.

Pavlik: “My personal time has kind of come to an end, put it that way. Between appearances and charity stuff, there’s not a lot of time left. Really, I’ve just got to find a day to catch up on a month and a half of missing out, especially my time with my family.”

Mike Jr.: “He’s protective of his personal life only because he has so much less of it. It’s like gold to him. You have eight weeks, nine weeks of training and it’s like you’re a celebrity, you have to go on tour to promote your fight. Everyone’s telling you to do this, do that. You don’t have much time left for family or anybody else.”

Pavlik: “Marriage hasn’t really changed things. When my daughter was born, that changed my whole life. That matured me more than anything, for the good in every aspect. If anything, it motivates me to train harder because I want to enter that ring as healthy as possible so I don’t take any chances on getting hurt. With the next kid, I’ve already learned everything from my daughter being there. Showing support and loving them is more important than anything.”

Mike Sr.: “His primary thoughts are with his family, his wife and his babies. He’s more of a homebody than in the past. That was one of the stories that ESPN was really taken with when they had their camera crews following him around. They’d watch him spar and train and see one demeanor, then go see him with his wife and his baby and see another. It’s almost like two personalities.”

Pavlik: “The good thing with boxing is, it’s not a longevity sport. The window of opportunity is small. We know it’s not going to last forever. It’s not like football, where guys play 17-18 years then become commentators. There’s plenty of time in the future, so the key is to make the most of it now and enjoy the rest.”