Pavlik tickets expected to sell fast

Extra cops and ushers are lined up for the fight.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Did you embrace the falling snow and line up overnight at the Chevrolet Centre for Kelly Pavlik tickets?

The 7,000 tickets available for Pavlik’s WBO/WBC middleweight championship fight Feb. 21 against Marco Antonio Rubio go on sale at 10 a.m. today. The limit is eight tickets per customer.

“I heard that some people could be staying there overnight and some come at 6 a.m., but that was before the snowstorm,” Michael Cox, Pavlik’s cornerman, said late Friday night. “Everybody’s real excited about it being in town. The last time, we had 4,600 there, and the thought of 21‚Ñ2 thousand more is pretty sweet — it’ll be awesome.”

Cox said everyone wishes the arena were bigger — wishes it held 30,000 — so everybody who wants to go could go.

“I talked to Kelly and Jack [Loew, Pavlik’s trainer]; they wish it was bigger, as a way to give back to the fans who have traveled to see him, and others who couldn’t afford to travel,” Cox said. “The upside is the excitement for the whole town. The last time everyone was happy for a week.”

Steve Dunn, head of security at the Chevrolet Centre, said he’ll have officers out early today, before the tickets going on sale. He expects most ticket buyers sometime after 7 a.m.

“This is the biggest thing we’ve ever had — I know it’ll sell out,” Dunn said.

Those sitting in the first six rows around the ring will pay $500 each. Ticket prices for the rest of the center are $300, $200, $100 and $50.

Eric Ryan, the center’s executive director, expects a quick sellout. He said this past week that he’d be shocked if it takes more than a few days to sell all the tickets. Though most people buy event tickets online, there are still those who prefer to stand in line, he said.

Those who rent luxury suites at the center will pay $150 a ticket. If the suite owners don’t want to buy tickets to the Pavlik fight, the center can’t use the boxes.

The center is selling tickets for the facility’s three unoccupied suites and its two party suites. The center hasn’t finalized prices for the suites, but it will be between $3,000 and $8,000, Ryan said.

There are more than 25 people on the list of those interested in buying tickets for the five suites, he said. It’s first-come, first-served.

There are six fights on the Feb. 21 undercard. The arena will open at 7 p.m. with the first fight at 7:30 p.m. The fight is being broadcast on pay-per-view at $44.95 as part of a two-site, two-main event broadcast. That night’s bout between Miguel Cotto and Michael Jennings will air at 10:15 p.m. on pay-per-view and at the Chevrolet Centre. The Pavlik bout will follow between 10:45 and 11:15 p.m.

Dunn has lined up extra cops — for inside and outside the center — and said the city will also have extra cops out the night of the fight.

“We’ll make sure there’s no chance of anything happening,” Dunn said. “We’ll have extra ushers, too. We’ll make sure we do everything right. I know what to expect with a large crowd.”