Fight site is a win-win for YSU

By Harold Gwin

YOUNGSTOWN — All will be ready at Youngstown State University’s Beeghly Center long before boxing middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik steps into the ring here Saturday night to defend his title.

Beeghly can seat more than 7,300 people for the event, but YSU is used to dealing with big crowds at the center, said Shannon Tirone, executive director of alumni and events management.

Things are going smoothly, she said of the fight preparations.

Top Rank is paying $15,000 to rent the center for the fight, plus picking up such out-of-pocket costs as police and janitorial services.

The staff got some excellent training with the latest presidential campaign circuit (serving as a rally site for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama and a later appearance by Hillary Clinton) so crowd size is not a problem, she said.

Dealing with a visit from the Good Morning America television program gave the staff experience in dealing with the needs of TV crews beyond a political rally, Tirone said.

She said she and her staff have been meeting daily all week with officials from Top Rank Inc., the Las Vegas-based promoters of the fight, as they have arrived in Youngstown to prepare for the pay-per-view bout.

Top Rank has a number of people responsible for different facets of the event, Tirone said, noting that their staggered arrivals in Youngstown have allowed YSU to focus on meeting their individual needs.

Beeghly Center is not a convention center, so it may lack some of the amenities or details that a convention center offers, she said.

“We show them the layout, and they tell us what they need,” she explained.

“Top Rank has been unbelievably cooperative,” Tirone said. They’ve showed the YSU staff the best camera angles to be arranged so that the YSU name can be seen during the fight.

“It’s a win-win for us,” she said, explaining that YSU will garner national attention from the event.

Pavlik (35-1-0) will defend his title against Miguel Espino (20-2-1). Doors open at 7 p.m. for the Top Rank pay-per-view which features a live feed of bouts in Mexico also on the telecast as well as undercard bouts in the ring at the Beeghly.

gwin@vindy.com