Beeghly Center’s capacity is about 7,000 for boxing

By Joe Scalzo

There are about 6,500 seats, and another 500 can be added at ringside.

YOUNGSTOWN — During last year’s election season, Shannon Tirone got a call at 7:30 p.m. on a Friday from one of the presidential candidates’ campaign managers.

They wanted to use Beeghly Center. On Monday morning.

“It wasn’t much notice and nobody thought they’d be working on the weekend,” said Tirone, YSU’s director of alumni and events management. “But we all came together and made it happen.”

Needless to say, after a crazy 2008 that featured several political rallies and an appearance by “Good Morning America,” Tirone wasn’t fazed by having only eight weeks to prepare for Kelly Pavlik’s next fight.

In fact, YSU’s staff managed to work out most of the logistics in a one-hour meeting.

“We’re really excited,” she said. “It’s good for us and it’s good for the university.”

The Dec. 19 fight against Miguel Espino comes at a good time for YSU, since students graduate on Dec. 13 and neither the men’s basketball team (which will play at Green Bay on Dec. 19) nor the women (who are off that night) need to use the gym.

Beeghly seats about 6,500 for basketball games but using the gym floor should make room for about 500 more people, according to Grant Springer, YSU’s manager of events and space utilization.

February’s Pavlik fight drew 7,334 fans to the Covelli Centre, a record for the arena.

The Covelli Centre is in use Dec. 19 for Disney on Ice.

This will be the first boxing match held at Beeghly, but the center has held pro wrestling events, which has a similar setup and fan capacity.

(And in case you’re wondering — yes, there will be beer for sale.)

Because the fight came together last weekend, there is still no ticket information, either about when they will go on sale or how much they will cost. February’s tickets ranged from $50 to $500, with the $50 and $100 tickets selling out within minutes of going on sale.

“My husband already called twice asking about tickets and I had to tell him I don’t know,” said Tirone, laughing. “We are literally at the infant stages of trying to figure this out.

Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew, said he heard some tickets could be priced as low as $25-$35.

“I can guarantee you that you’ll never again see a world championship fight for $30,” he said.

To help sales, Top Rank put Loew in charge of the undercard bouts and he plans to showcase local fighters Chris Hazimihalis (who will make his pro debut) and Jake Giuriceo (who made his pro debut on February’s undercard). Both have big local followings.

Tirone and Loew both expect the fight to sell out, particularly since it falls so close to Christmas.

“They make great stocking stuffers,” Loew said.

scalzo@vindy.com

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