Boxer’s brother pleads guilty in plea agreement

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

Pavlik will be sentenced at a later date.

YOUNGSTOWN — Michael Pavlik, 33, brother of famed boxing champ Kelly Pavlik, has pleaded guilty to reduced charges in a domestic- violence case that could land him in jail for up to six months.

Pavlik had been charged with fifth-degree felony domestic violence after a November incident in which Pavlik is said to have beaten a pregnant woman in a South Side home. He appeared for a pretrial Thursday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, where a plea agreement was reached.

Natasha Frenchko, an assistant county prosecutor, told the court that prosecutors had agreed to reduce the felony charge to a misdemeanor domestic violence to which Pavlik would plead guilty. Prosecutors have recommended a six-month prison term.

Frenchko said the plea was reached, in part, because prosecutors are not sure that Pavlik knew the woman was pregnant at the time of the incident.

Frenchko said the female in the case, who was in court for the pretrial, is aware of the plea agreement and does not object to the amended charges. She said the woman plans to ask the court not to put Pavlik in jail but to instead order him into an alcohol-treatment program.

According to a police report, Pavlik and a 33-year-old woman became involved in a physical altercation at a Cornell Street home just before midnight one late- November evening. The woman told police Pavlik punched her in the eye, threw her into a coffee table and dragged her across the floor.

The woman said the fight continued the next day with more physical confrontation.

Pavlik will be sentenced at a later date by Judge Krichbaum after the court has obtained a pre-sentence investigation.

Often cited as a member of “Team Pavlik,” Michael Pavlik has worked as cornerman, team coordinator and media handler for his brother’s boxing enterprise.

jgoodwin@vindy.com