Ghostly Presents

THE CHAMP TAKES TIME OUT FROM TRAINING TO VISIT HIS LITTLEST FANS

By JOE SCALZO

Vindicator sports staff

After going through an ordeal they’d like to forget, Kelly Pavlik gave the Van Such family a night to remember.

The story starts on Nov. 20, when 8-year-old Stephen Van Such of Canfield came down with pneumonia and was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital, first to the Boardman campus, then the Akron campus.

He was there for 13 days and his parents were there for every one.

Doctors detected heartbeat irregularities and eventually had to install a pacemaker, but they saved his life. Stephen returned home on Dec. 3 and was back in school by Dec. 7.

“You always hear the phrase ‘Kids are resilient’ and it’s true,” said Stephen’s father, Steve. “He’s amazing.”

Steve wanted to do something special for his son, so he contacted Tank DiCioccio, a friend of the family and a member of Team Pavlik. Steve was just hoping for maybe an autographed poster or a glove from Pavlik, but DiCioccio had something bigger in mind.

“He asked if it would be OK for Kelly to visit,” said Steve, who also has a daughter named Savanna. “My son is a huge Pavlik fan, so of course we were thrilled.”

So, on Dec. 11, DiCioccio came to the house and brought two gifts: the game “Rock Band” on Nintendo DSI and a fight poster.

Stephen, who had several friends over, ripped open the game and started playing. Five minutes later, Pavlik walked through the door.

“Pavlik said, ‘What are you guys playing?’ ” Steve recalled. “And they all looked up. It was a total surprise.”

Pavlik posed for pictures and signed gloves and posters, instantly turning Stephen into a legend at his school. Pavlik couldn’t stay long — he left to do a workout at the YMCA for his fight against Miguel Espino, which he won on Saturday — but he didn’t have to.

“I can’t even imagine [Pavlik’s] frame of mind, so for him to take the time out from training to do that speaks volumes about the type of person he is,” Steve said. “It would have been one thing to let [Stephen] come into the gym and hang out and watch him train, but the fact that he came out here was amazing.

“You can tell he’s a dad. I think he did this more as a father.”

Steve and Stephen attended Saturday’s fight — “The second he came off that ventilator, I knew I was going to go,” said Steve — and, thankfully, his health is fine.

Pavlik does a lot of charity work during the year but generally stops making appearances once training camp begins. But he does make exceptions.

That was one example. Here’s another.

When Pavlik was training in Las Vegas, his camp got word of a 6-year-old fan named Zach Stevers who dressed up like Pavlik for Halloween, going as far as shaving his head with a straight razor and wearing a long blue robe that read Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik on the back.

Impressed, Pavlik and his trainer, Jack Loew, visited the family, posing for pictures, autographing some items and generally ensuring the family would be fans for life.

“In today’s society of high end athletes worrying about nothing but themselves, their image and their money, it is so refreshing to know firsthand that one of the greatest athletes in the world — and one of our own — is a genuine and caring person,” wrote Zach’s father, Chris, in an e-mail. “We chatted with Kelly and Jack for about 20 minutes and they would have stayed longer if the schedule would have allowed. Those 20 minutes provided a memory for a lifetime.

“If only everyone could experience Kelly in the light we have seen him in! We are proud to say we are fans for life and now friends of ‘The Ghost’!”

Pavlik battled back from a career-threatening staph infection in 2009, postponed several bouts and had to endure more scrutiny — and more false rumors — about his personal life than ever before.

In short, he got a lot of bad headlines.

On Christmas, he deserved a good one.

scalzo@vindy.com