Take a peek inside arena on fight night

VINDICATOR STAFF/EDITORS

It was a big night for a big fight in a big city decked out in its best.

What did you miss if you stayed at home?

Well, the set-up for Saturday’s big fight at the Chevrolet Centre finished 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

Brandon Bucar, the center’s assistant director and its director of facilities, was finally able to put his feet on his desk and kick back for a bit shortly thereafter.

“It went very smooth,” he said.

Top Rank employees started constructing the ring at 5 a.m. Saturday.

Center workers began placing the 1,600 ringside seats on the floor about 9 a.m., and removed portions of the ice hockey dasher boards to allow those with ringside tickets to get on the floor. The center was to be ready by 5 p.m., but workers finished early at 4:30 p.m.

Party on! The liquor was flowing freely — but wasn’t free — at the Chevrolet Centre for Kelly Pavlik’s middleweight title defense.

There were about 25 free-standing concession stands from one end of the arena to the other. Many of them sold hard liquor, wine and beer.

Though some of the drinks were pricey, it was only a buck for a Jell-O shot.

Even stands that sell peanuts, soft drinks and cotton candy sold alcoholic beverages.

For the big man: Pavlik fans come in all shapes and sizes.

But if you’re a little beefy, it cost an extra $3 to buy a Pavlik shirt at the Chevrolet Centre on Saturday night.

Vendors at the center were selling medium, large and extra-large shirts for $25. It’s $28 for double and triple extra-large shirts.

The “Phantom Team Shop” at the center was transformed into a store for all things Pavlik, featuring shirts, programs and posters, among other items, for sale.

Got tickets? Ticket scalping for the Pavlik-Rubio fight met with rough going for about a half-dozen guys standing in front of the center Saturday night.

They were seen standing in the rain attempting to sell $50 tickets for $200 each to the sold-out championship bout.

The six paraded near city police officers shouting “Tickets!” every 10 or 15 seconds. Despite the lack of luck selling the tickets, the scalpers remained optimistic they’d get their price — even more than an hour after the gates opened.

For their part, police officers seemed more worried about traffic control than the ticket scalpers. One officer reported the night had thus far been “busy but orderly.”

The scalpers, by the way, refused to give their names to The Vindicator, as did the officers.

Fireworks: A fireworks display was set off around 9 p.m. to announce the middleweight champion had arrived to defend his crown.