Where it all started for Pavlik

Dreams getting bigger at South Side Boxing Club

By LOU CALI JR. Tribune Chronicle correspondent
YOUNGSTOWN — The small quadrangular room inside the old brick building on Erie Street was once one of those easy-to-miss places. If you had no ties to the South Side Boxing Club, chances were you had no idea it existed.

How much things have changed in the past few months.

Although the secluded structure is still difficult to find, more and more people are making a concerted effort to locate it. HBO and ESPN have both sent camera crews there. Jim Rome is scheduled to come and boxing writers from all over the country have descended on the Mahoning Valley since Kelly Pavlik won the middleweight title from Jermain Taylor in September.

Top Rank publicist Lee Samuels looked around the one-room gym Monday afternoon almost in disbelief that the sport’s suddenly biggest star could come from such a place, a far cry from the glitz of Top Rank’s home gym in Las Vegas.

“This is where it’s always been?” he asked, while admitting that he’d never been to Youngstown before.

This, indeed, is where it’s always been. Always run by trainer Jack Loew and always hosting small neighborhood kids with big dreams. The kids haven’t gotten much bigger but the dreams have, courtesy of Pavlik.

When Pavlik — known as “The Ghost” — handed Taylor his first loss he became an instant celebrity. While his down-to-earth, blue-collar persona made him an immediate hit nationwide, it also made things more difficult back home. You put “world champion” in front of your name and all of a sudden you have new friends everywhere. Lunch here. Dinner there. Everyone wanted a piece of the 25-year-old.

“It’s been tough,” Pavlik said. “It wears on you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining but you do get tired. The one thing I won’t turn down is something to do with charity.”

Charity is something Pavlik has assured he will never be asking for. When Taylor opted to activate the rematch clause on their contract (at 166 pounds), Pavlik quickly agreed to fight again. The two will step in the ring for a non-title fight Feb. 16, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. According to Loew, Pavlik will make no less than $2.5-million for the bout.

“This is a big fight from a money point of view,” said Loew, who’s known the champ since a 9-year-old Pavlik walked through the doors of his gym. “No matter what happens we still have our belts. But the money will be much greater if he beats Taylor again.”

If?

“When,” replied Loew quickly. “Jermain Taylor didn’t change in any of his fights and I doubt he’ll change now. Kelly’s not going to be much different either. He’s still going to come to fight and throw a million punches. But we’ll have a few tricks up our sleeve.”

Loew wouldn’t expand, saying only “tune in.”

The first fight between the two was a classic middleweight bout which brought back memories of the Hagler-Hearns bout two decades earlier. Taylor floored Pavlik in the second round and appeared poised to put away the young challenger. Pavlik survived the round and eventually knocked out Taylor in the seventh.

’’We made a mistake in the second round, put my chin out there a little bit,î Pavlik said. ’’I guarantee that’s not going to happen again.î

What will likely happen again is a large migration from Youngstown. Several thousand traveled to Atlantic City for the September fight and indications are just as many will head to Las Vegas. All this to follow a kid who’s not allowed success to uproot him from the mill town where he grew up.

One gets the feeling no matter what the future holds for Pavlik his heart will always be in Youngstown. Because, as Samuels said, this is where it’s always been.