Archive for the ‘Boxing’ Category

One of the most eventful parts of the boxing card held at Beeghly Center was the pro debut of Chris ‘Christo’ Hazimihalis.  Hazimihalis received a warm greeting from the very partial hometown crowd. 

Admittedly, Hazimihalis came out nervous and tentative.  “I had some jitters, but once I got in there and started mixing it up, I got more comfortable.  It was a learning experience and now I know better what to expect.  I am going to get back into the gym and keep working on things to get better.”

The untested Hazimihalis faced Norman Allen of Toledo.  Coming into the fight, Allen was winless in six pro fights. 

The first round was tentative until Hazimihalis landed a flurry near his corner.  Allen was swinging wildly and missing Hazimahalis.  Hazimihalis was active enough to win the round, connecting with much better accuracy than Allen.

The second round also went to the local rookie.  Hazimihalis landed several big blows throughout the round, hurting Allen a couple of times.  The judges had to see it as a 10-8 round for Hazimihalis. 

About a minute into the third round, Allen went to knee after a Hazimihalis flurry and that would be enough.  Allen was unable to take the wave of activity that Christo was serving him and the fight would end with a third round TKO.

Hazimihalis is trained by Jack Loew who said he saw good and bad in a typical professional debut.  “Chris Hazimihalis is a young kid with a limited amateur background, maybe 35 or 40 fights.  He showed some ring generalship out there tonight and he didn’t get carried away.  He got a little lazy for awhile, but it was his first fight and he stopped a kid who didn’t want to fight back.”

Kelly Pavlik returned home to get back in the ring and defend his championships against Miguel Espino. Pavlik needed to have a good showing to merit the favor of his critics.  The mission was accomplished, at least partially.  Pavlik used his power, body shots, and some timely uppercuts to turn away the challenger Espino in front of 3,407 fans at Youngstown State’s Beeghly Center.

Pavlik entered the arena with what has become his trademark music – KORN – blaring through Youngstown’s Beeghly Center.  The ovation was authentic and the city that fell in love with a fighter had that special feeling again.  Pavlik entered the ring looking hungry.

Pavlik worked hard the first round as Espino was fighting back.  This was a mistake that Espino pointed out at the post-fight press conference.  “I got away from the plan.  The plan was originally to avoid going toe-to-toe and exchange blows with Kelly.  He hit me a couple of times but never really hurt me.  Respectfully, I don’t think he was at his best tonight.” For four rounds, Espino tried to exchange blows with Pavlik, and landed plenty of good shots of his own, but ultimately the firepower Pavlik’s punches contained were too much for the challenger.

 Espino got a point deducted for hitting after the first round bell.

In the second round, Espino proved he was more than just happy to be in Youngstown by landing a couple of solid shots. Pavlik was pounding on Espino’s body throughout round two. Espino was behind two rounds to none. A small cut was noticable under the right eye of Pavlik.  The other thing that was obvious was that the Espino Camp stressed blocking the overhand right – Pavlik’s mealticket.  ‘The Ghost’ sought alternatives and came up with a couple of uppercuts in between vicious body punches.

Give Espino credit, he was here to fight. He was fighting Pavlik’s style and exchanging blows. Pavlik connected with a good right that started some blood pouring out of the nose of Espino mid-round. Espino was again warned for throwing punches below the belt. There was not alot of dancing and jabbing taking place to this point, just alot of leather flying at both fighters. After three, Pavlik was up three rounds to none in what was by far the closest round.

The fifth round was when Pavlik cashed in on all of those previous body shots. Pavlik nailed Espino with another and Espino took a knee, ala Gary Lockett.  After regaining posture with the count at eight, the two boxers were throwing again.  A sharp Pavlik uppercut dazed Espino and a nice combination that followed floored the challenger.  As Espino struggled to regain his balance and barely beat the count, his corner threw in the towel to avoid serious injury.

The win hoists Pavlik’s record to 36-1 with 32 KOs.  Espino fell to 20-3-1 with the loss.

Bob Arum, the man in charge at Top Rank, made a pretty strong statement directed toward the Paul Williams camp after the fight.  “Kelly couldn’t go through with the [Williams] fight because of the injuries to his hand, he couldn’t even make a fist.  They couldn’t wait and wanted to go ahead with a fight on December 5.  Williams nearly got licked and many feel he lost that fight.  We have got a signed contract that is truly no longer valid.  All they have to do if they want to fight Kelly Pavlik is initial that contract and send it to me and the first available date that HBO has, we will do the fight.”

Pavlik was happy to return to action and vowed to be busier in 2010.  “I felt more comfortable as the fight went on.  The off time I had was not spent relaxing or doing things I enjoy.  I couldn’t lift anything heavier than a half gallon of milk for six weeks, so the time spent in Vegas to train was me playing ‘catch-up’.  I want the Williams fight.  The reason I fought Bernard Hopkins was because the Williams camp pulled out.  If we can’t get Williams, we will look toward Felix Sturm or someone else.  I want to take about three weeks off and then resume training.  Ideally, I would like to have three fights in a year.”

With Kelly Pavlik getting ready to defend his championships Saturday, I leaf around the internet looking for articles.  There is so much negative stuff written about Pavlik because he is not fighting Paul Williams.  Instead, the opponent is little-known, but ranked, Miguel Espino.  The thing that surprised me most was the negativity directed toward Jack Loew and comments about how much grander Pavlik would be if he shook Loew away.

I don’t buy it for a minute.  Emanuel Steward is like a pimp.  He has many people with high profile matches in his stable.  Is it really possible for him to channel his best effort to each and every guy he trains?  I have not seen Mr. Steward in too many winning corners lately unless he is working for HBO and doing a post-fight interview with the victor. 

 Who else? Mayweather?  The guy can’t even work with his own family (until recently, again). 

OK…  point taken.  Jack Loew does blacktop work in the Summer.  That fact was spotted in at least every fourth article Google lined up when I searched.  SO WHAT?  Loew is a person who also runs a gym and has an upcoming stable of local talent to heed notice of.  Not only that, but he can focus on Pavlik as his big gun.  I’m in no way downplaying what Pavlik has accomplished, but c’mon, give credit where it is due.  Who knows where Kelly would be if he was just another one of Steward’s fighters?

Jack Loew will succeed with another fighter in the sport of boxing.  I have said it before and I will say it again, he is no one-trick pony.  He loves what he does and is more successful than most trainers in the sport, Pavlik’s gold is the proof.

Before anyone opens their mouth about Jack Loew being the beneficiary of geographic proximity, think again.  Loew is a boxing trainer with a pretty darn good record.  Bravo!

Kelly Pavlik wants to get a fight in by then end of 2009.  Mike Pavlik, Kelly’s father and co-manager, has confirmed the date and opponent to be Miguel Espino (20-2-1, 9 KO’s).  Pavlik (35-1, 31 KO’s) has been battling a staph infection for months which caused the cancellation of two scheduled fights against Paul Wiliams.  The fight will take place on the campus of Youngstown Stae University’s Beeghly Center.

Espino has rattled off 11 straight wins, six by knockout, since losing to Peter Manfredo in 2004.  The fight will be a Top Rank Pay-Per-View event which will co-feature two fights from Cancun.  When Pavlik beat Marco Antonio Rubio in nine round at the Covelli Centre in February, Top Rank fielded a similar package of combining locations with co-features.  The other two fights on the “Latin Fury” PPV are Humberto Soto (49-7-2, 32 KO’s) moving up to 135-pounds to challenge Jesus Chavez (44-6, 30 KO’s), and Vanes Martirosyan (25-0, 16 KO’s) against a yet to be named opponent for the vacant NABF Jr. Middleweight Championship.

Pavlik was hospitalized a couple of weeks ago with a 104 degree temperature, skin discoloration, and a racing heartbeat.  Therapy has done him well in recent days as the champ continues on his road to recovery.  Having followed Pavlik from the beginning, I can tell you that he will duck no one, including Paul Williams.  Williams’ Manager, George Peterson, was recently quoted as saying, “We weren’t surprised.  This is really the fourth time now, so this fight will never take place.  We’re going to move on.  There’s no injury, he [Pavlik] just needs a heart transplant.”  Very observant Mr. Peterson, very observant indeed. 

Jack Loew would be the first person to tell you that he will not let a fighter who is not at 100%, which Pavlik was not even close to, enter a fight.  When I interviewed Loew in May, he was quick to blame himself for allowing the Bernard Hopkins fight to even take place.  “The writing was on the wall twice, and I chose to ignore it.  In the future and moving ahead, if I have a fighter who is not at 100%, whether it be Kelly Pavlik or a 15-year old Golden Gloves entrant, he will not fight.”  I am sure Loew would vouch, as would many others who have seen Pavlik’s ailing hand, that to be ready for Williams would have been catastrophic at best.

The national media can say what they want about Pavlik.  He is used to people doubting his abilities and was quick to point out that nobody picked him to beat Jermaine Taylor, either time they fought.  Keep doubting him, but never question the heart.  If it were his decision alone, he would have tried to fight Paul Williams with one hand.  Management and trainers will not let that happen.  Don’t worry Paul, he will still be the man to beat at the 160-pound mark next year.  Hope you win yours.

A press conference to be held at the New York Giants practice facility in East Rutherford, N.J. on Tuesday will confirm that Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams will finally meet up to sign the deal that will see them face off on December 5th.  The fight will be held at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hotel. 

The fight was originally scheduled to take place on October 3 but Pavlik backed out days before a press conference in August to promote the fight with a severe staph infection.  Since then, Pavlik has been careful with the injury, sporting a splint, and undergoing IV drips to heal the bad hand.  Obviously, the attention has helped the hand as Pavlik will resume running next week. 

The fight will be televised on HBO, something Pavlik seemed adamant about from the time I interviewed him in July.  Tickets will cost $400, $300, $200, $100, and $50 and will go on sale Wednesday, one day after the press conference.  Tickets can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hotel box office or via Ticketmaster.

According to Youngstown Vindicator boxing reporter Joe Scalzo, Jack Loew is thrilled to finally get back at it with Pavlik.  Scalzo quoted Loew in Tuesday’s Vindicator as saying, “The last time we took this amount of time off, he came in and fought a left-hander, and knocked him out to win a championship.”  Loew was making reference to Pavlik’s 9th round TKO of Bronco McKart after a 10-month layoff.

 Youngstown area night life is about to get a big shot in the arm.  Eric Ryan has teamed with Kelly Pavlik to bring Kelly Pavlik’s 13th Round  to downtown Struthers.  This is not a normal mom and pop neighborhood bar, but more an event. 

Formerly known as South Bridge, a place where people went to play pool, hear some live music, or eat a decent meal upstairs at Fat E’s, the conversion to Kelly Pavlik’s 13th Round is nearly complete and the doors to a whole new nightlife experience open to the public on September 11. 

The only thing that will stay the same is the lower level, aka The Cellar.  Eric Ryan and staff will continue to feature the best local and national musical talent to this exclusive venue.  Anyone who has been to The Cellar for a Disco Inferno night understands the level of entertainment you can still get for a few bucks.

The mid-level, formerly South Bridge, a pool hall and bar is undergoing the biggest makeover.  There will be a boxing ring right in the bar.  The bar itself will be huge and there will be a kitchen open to serve food to the patrons in the form of hamburgers, wings, fries, and many other menu items.  The big menu item will be called “The Knockout”.  The Knockout sandwich weighs three pounds and is basically the size of a loaf of bread.  Anyone who purchases the sandwich will also receive a T-shirt.  Kelly Pavlik was even contacted by the popular show Man vs Food to showcase the new sandwich. The customer can order food and will be given a blinking light box that will activate once an order is prepared and ready for consumption.  The bar itself will also feature 13 flat screen TV’s and will carry mostly any sport on any day.  My personal favorite feature will be something I cannot really comment about until the bar opens, but I will give you a hint in that I am a sports memorabilia fanatic.  If you even remotely care about sports this is your place. 

The top level has also undergone many upgrades both in appearance and class.  Chef Jeff Chrystal of Chrystal Catering notoriety will be in charge of the top level food.  Alligator is an appetizer choice, duck is also an option, but the menu will have several other “normal” selections such as steaks.  The picture above denotes one of the cool ideas incorporated into the new establishment.  A designer has painted, in different colors and fonts on the wall, quotes from several notable boxing legends.  There is a similar project associated with this concept downstairs which I will save as a surprise to the clients. 

Alan Drennen is the general manager for the entire complex and talked about what a great menu Jeff Chrystal is going to provide.  “It’s going to be a well-rounded unique menu.  There are unbelievable pasta dishes, steaks, steakburgers that are hand-pattied not bought processed.  It’s going to be really good food yet still be affordable.”

Ryan is pumped about the new establishment and said that Kelly Pavlik is more involved than people may think from an insider standpoint.  “It’s something Kelly and I have been talking about for a long time.  It is a way for him to generate some income without getting punched in the face.  We have business meetings and when he is in attendance, he certainly is no dummy.  I’m the manager of the place, but Kelly has had input on the menu, he has had input on the look of the place.  We have transformed the billiards room in to the most incredible sports bar you are ever going to see.”

I am really excited for the premier of this establishment.  Eric Ryan brings a spotless track record and a resume filled only with success to a higher level yet again.  The Covelli Centre is hot right now, don’t think it’s because Ryan didn’t have anything to do with it.  This guy does not hide in his office.  He has a knack of putting the right people in place to oversee facets of every project he attempts.  More importantly, the guy follows through on everything.  Kelly Pavlik’s 13th Round is going to be special. 

Thank’s Kelly and Eric for giving the valley another shot in the arm!

The Kelly Pavlik vs Paul Williams fight originally scheduled for October 3 has been put on hold due to a staph infection on Pavlik’s left index finger.  The fight will be reschduled for November 21 and still be televised by HBO.  This hand injury dates back to February and has already prevented Pavlik from fighting against Sergio Mora in June.

Jack Loew told me that Kelly is not depressed, but rather relieved at the postponement, “We don’t want to go in there unprepared while nursing this injury.  Kelly is relieved that he will not be pressed into this fight without being prepared.”

Loew told me that when Pavlik ran through Mill Creek Park on Monday that his hand was wrapped.  When Pavlik finished his run, Loew had him remove the bandages so he could check the status of the infection.  “It was disgusting, not even a cut, but more like a hole in his finger,” Loew commented.

Loew stated in an interview with me in May that if Pavlik was less than 100% that he would not compete in a championship fight.  This belief is what the end feelings were in the Pavlik vs Bernard Hopkins fight, where Loew commented that “the writing was on the wall twice, and we chose to ignore it,” referring to Pavlik needing to get his arm drained and a bout with pneumonia in weeks close to the fight.

Pavlik is currently undergoing serious IV treatments.  “He is doing IV treatments twice a day every twelve hours to fix this.  The doctor said he should be ready to resume training in a few weeks and that it can be healed,” added Loew.

Paul Williams and his group knew nothing of the postponement and have yet to agree to the November 21 reschedule date.  Joe Scalzo, of the Youngstown Vindicator, quoted Dan Goosen (Williams’ promoter), “Obviously we are very surprised.  When I hear that date [November 21], I’d be very interested in one thing: Who’s he [Pavlik] going to fight?  We know nothing about it.”

Kelly Pavlik is going back to his second home, Atlantic City, to defend the Middleweight Championship against Paul Williams.  After weeks of tireless negotiations, the two sides finally agreed on dollars to make the fight a reality on October 3.  Joe Scalzo, the Youngstown Vindicator Boxing Reporter broke the story late yesterday.

The dynamics of this fight are fascinating.  These guys are both tall and narrow and have one thing in common ~ big punch potential.  The belief that Williams cannot take Pavlik’s best punch is countered by the fact that Williams is a southpaw, something Pavlik has not faced in awhile.  Williams is a very active fighter and throws punches from bell to bell.

Williams recently fought Antonio Margarito and came out ahead.  The early predictions I have read all seem to go with Williams.  Call me a homer, but these are the same experts who picked Edison Miranda and Jermaine Taylor.  My money is always on Pavlik, and I’m ahead.  Jack Loew, Pavlik’s trainer,  will create ways, as he has before, to offset Williams’ strengths.  I expect more counter-punches and more body shots to keep Williams off balance. 

The fight is scheduled for October 3 and will be televised on regular HBO.  Pavlik was hinting to many that he wanted to be on HBO and not on a PPV, which I think is greater exposure setting up bigger paydays later.  HBO will be calling this their fight of the year if these two guys bring their A-games.

Tickets for the fight go on sale August 18.  I will be posting much more leading up to the fight.

Kelly Pavlik was at the Mahoning Valley Scrappers game on Thursday night and revealed his plans for the future, as well as what he has been up to lately.  A swarm of fans greeted Pavlik to get autographed copies of his book written by David Lee Morgan, Jr. and Greg Gulas.  The book is for sale on the official Team Pavlik website.

Pavlik said that the Felix Sturm (32-4-1, 14 KO’s) fight is on the board, but not set in stone yet.  “That’s the talk.  A couple of weeks ago it was definitely Felix Sturm until he backed out.  Now that this Super Middleweight Tournament is going on Showtime, I think it’s pretty much a reality that the fight [Sturm] is going to happen.” 

It seems the holdup on making the fight with Sturm official is the proposed purse from HBO.  “Somebody better throw some more money out there.  He’s got the WBA world title, I’ve got two titles.”  HBO has offered the fighters roughly $1 million each.  “If we’ve got to split that, I wasn’t going to take a fight for that.”

Pavlik (35-1, 31 KO’s) said he has been keeping busy lately and has even started to get into shape.  “We are starting at about three days a week now, I run.  Then next week we start with the weightlifting and getting back into the boxing gym.  We’re not going to do it too hard now because we still have a long way.  When you do eight weeks of seven hours a day of training, you don’t want to go too long out. I keep myself in pretty good shape, three days a week I always work out whether it’s lifting weights, or my basketball court, we get some pickup games going – we’re out there for four hours a day playing against different teams that come in, so I’m always doing some kind of activities.”

Kelly stressed that he is very anxious to get back in the ring.  ” As soon as we find out the exact date of the fight, and the date can still change, know that I am definitely excited to get back in the ring.”

Pavlik commented on the internet and blogs.  ” They wrote me off before and look what happened, I’ve got two belts.”

When asked where the fight might take place, Pavlik answered, “AC [Atlantic City], Youngstown or Cleveland.  Sturm’s coming over from Germany, I don’t see it happening in Vegas because he fought [Oscar]DeLa Hoya there and he kind of got robbed on that fight.  AC is kind of my second home, so, they’re going to have to pick somewhere in the Midwest I guess.”

A rotten rumor about Kelly Pavlik has been circulating nationally.  The rumor is that Kelly Pavlik is in alcohol-rehabilitation.  Seeing a very healthy-looking Pavlik at tonight’s Thunder game, I am disturbed by what some people are writing and publishing on the national level when they do not know or understand any facts, but rather base a story on heresay to boost hits.

Being from Youngstown, and a nationally recognized blog, I am going to do the right thing and try to set the record straight.   Pavlik is not and was not in alcohol-rehab.  Everything the poor guy does is magnified times twenty because he is now famous.  In the months between training for a fight and fighting, Pavlik is all business.  What he does in the recreational time he has between the end of a fight and starting to train for the next fight is his business.

I know Kelly throws darts and shoots pool in sanctioned leagues in Youngstown.  Unfortunately for him, the dart matches do not take place in a church basement, but rather at a bar.  So he goes to a bar two or three times a week to throw darts or shoot pool with his friends.  Does that mean he automatically has an alcohol problem?  I shoot pool in sanctioned leagues too, the same ones as Pavlik.  I go to bars four nights a week, should I check into Betty Ford now? 

President Obama was photographed at a Washington Wizards game this past Winter.  He was photographed relaxing and drinking a beer.  Should we impeach him now?  I thought it was one of the coolest photos I ever saw because it showed him being a human being, an American.

First of all, drinking is legal in this country, and if any citizen chooses to drink, it is their legal American right.  Secondly, Kelly Pavlik is a self-advertised proud father, to him family comes first.  To me, that is respectable, because family comes first here as well.  Finally, I have had conversations with Jack Loew, Pavlik’s trainer, am friends with Mike Romeo, a member of team Pavlik, and have several common friends with Pavlik.  If this rumor were indeed true, I would know.  If I found out it was true, I would not write anything, especially in defense of Pavlik.

Bottom line is that my sources are people on the inside, and they would tell me the truth knowing I would not publish anything on this website to harm the reputation of someone who is pictured in my banner.  I can report here and now that Kelly Pavlik is just fine and that RingTalk.com writer Pedro Fernandez needs to re-check his sources because he was sorely misled.

The credibility of this website hangs on the balance of what I type every day.  I am willing to risk my own credibility based on who I have talked to and what they know. 

With a new deal in place with Top Rank signed about a month ago, Pavlik will continue to defend Youngstown.  With my credibility and reputation at stake, I will continue to defend Kelly Pavlik.