Pavlik signs plea to amended charge

Staff report

canfield

Former middle-weight boxing champion Kelly Pavlik, 31, signed a plea agreement to an amended charge of disorderly conduct.

The charge was amended Friday morning in Mahoning County Area Court in Canfield from a petty-theft charge. It stemmed from a September incident where a cab driver accused Pavlik of failing to pay his $25 cab fare.

The driver was taking Pavlik from a bar on South Meridian Road in Youngstown to his home in Canfield. The driver told police Pavlik said he would not pay and swore at the driver.

Pavlik will have to pay $300 to the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, according to the plea agreement.

At his last court appearance in January, Pavlik suddenly dropped to the ground and appeared to have a seizure. Family said Pavlik was admitted to the hospital for an evaluation.

Pavlik announced his retirement from boxing in January 2013. He told The Vindicator at the time it was partially due to a seizure he had in December 2012.

Pavlik has a pending charge of operating a vehicle while impaired, which he pleaded not guilty to in December.

He has a pretrial hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. March 27 in Austintown court.