Thousands pour in to downtown bars to celebrate Kelly

By Elise Franco

Hundreds swarmed to the MVR restaurant to greet the champion .

Boxing fans showed up early and stayed out late to celebrate the Valley’s champion.

While Kelly Pavlik basked in his TKO over Marco Antonio Rubio at Cassese’s MVR on Walnut Street near downtown after the fight, hundreds upon hundreds of fans and supporters spilled out onto the streets of Youngstown and tried to squeeze into the already jam-packed bars downtown.

MVR manager Joe Cassese said his restaurant especially, had a huge crowd all waiting for the chance to catch a glimpse of The Ghost.

“I’ve never seen that much congestion on Walnut Street ever,” he said. “It was an amazing sight to see the Hollow that lit up.”

Cassese said at one point he peeked out a side door and saw people lined up at least two blocks down the street.

“It’s something we may never see again in this town,” he said. “We are so thankful to Kelly and Team Pavlik. ... With out them there’s no way we would have all enjoyed such an electric night.”

Buffalo Wild Wings, on Central Square, was filled to capacity by early evening, and manager Mike Huston said it stayed that way until closing time.

“It was crazy,” he said. “We had people waiting outside, and at one point it was about an hour and 20- minute to wait to get in.”

Huston said a handful of people left after the fight ended, but many coming from the Chevrolet Centre, where they saw the action live, stopped in for a few post-celebratory drinks.

Michael Blake, manager of Rosetta Stone Cafe on West Federal Plaza, said about 500 people packed in, shoulder-to-shoulder, to watch the fight on one 72-inch television.

“There were people sitting on the bar and standing on chairs and tables to look over the crowd,” he said.

Blake said almost everyone stayed after Kelly’s victory to enjoy drinks and live music by Guys Without Ties, who played before and after the fight.

“We had to throw everyone out,” he said. “At 3 a.m. we still had close to 350 people here.”

Despite the large crowds, both Huston and Blake said they hit no major snags.

“It was phenomenal for us,” Blake said. “We did more than double what we would do on a normal Saturday night, and we have big Friday and Saturday nights here.”

Huston said other than one or two minor scuffles, the entire night ran smoothly, and employees had the bar cleaned up by 3 a.m.

“We had a couple of people that wanted to [cause trouble,] but most people understood how busy everything was, and they were patient,” he said.

Trouble seemed to be looming for Youngstown Sports Grille in Boardman, however.

Manager Sean Pregibon said up until about 10:30 p.m., the bar’s satellites had trouble finding a signal.

“We didn’t lose the feed of the actual fight,” he said. “The transmission didn’t come in until about 10:30, so we kind of got a late start.”

Pregibon said although some patrons did decide to leave, the problem was solved pre-fight, and about 500 people stuck around.

“I give credit to a lot of the customers who stayed. They were patient,” he said. “We understand why some people left though.”

Pregibon said the glitch may have been related to the windy, snowy weather, but once the signal came through, everything went off without a hitch.

“Everything was perfect, and we didn’t have any problems after that,” he said. “We had an all-around great evening. It was a big victory for Kelly.”

efranco@vindy.com