This past weekend I made it to my first Football Hall of Fame induction in Canton, Ohio, originally, I was planning on making it a double header, Hall of Fame and then over to Youngstown, to catch the Pavlik fight. Well, we all know how the Pavlik fight ended.
Kelly Pavlik has every right to do as he chooses with his career and if “fighting for peanuts” is not what he wants to do, right or wrong, good or bad, it’s his personal choice. However, I was curious as to what the locals, particularly people who worked near the Covelli Centre felt about the cancellation of the fight and if they felt his comments were out of line.
I made it into Youngstown a little after 10pm, right about the same time Pavlik was supposed to go live on Showtime, so I thought it was only fitting if I made way to the Covelli Centre first. The Covelli Centre is located just south of downtown Youngstown and in a good location for people planning on heading to the local downtown bars, restaurants, etc. However with the arena being fairly close to downtown, on that particular night, there was nothing going on in the area so I headed to find any local places open to see if I could get any personal thoughts on the Pavlik fight and his choice words for not wanting to fight.
I was not able to get anyone to go on record who I interviewed that worked or managed at any of the bars, restaurants I went to since they were not authorized ,but they did say that they were planning on the fight being held and staffed accordingly. One place was hoping to celebrate their 2 year anniversary of being open with the Pavlik fight and had hoped the extra fan fair would have helped them jumpstart their weekend festivities. They also acknowledged that they would have been busier and that the staff more than likely would have made more tips if there had been the fight with the extra foot traffic that would have came through the doors. One staffer said “thanks” for not having the fight Kelly. Patrons that were on the street were a little more critical of Pavlik and his actions. A group of guys I spoke to felt that Pavlik lost his way after the Hopkins fight and that Pavlik has not really been the same since. When I asked them what they thought of Kelly’s comments and his cancelling his hometown fight, they were not surprised but stated,” Kelly has love for Youngstown, but he personally doesn’t have an obligation to the city.”
My overall impression was that most locals I had a chance to speak to didn’t feel too strongly either way about the fight, perhaps they were not huge fans, or maybe they have seen more than a fight being cancelled in the area and took this in stride as they have other things that didn’t go according to plan in the area. $50,000 may be peanuts to Pavlik but when the average Family median in the Youngstown area is roughly $25,175 based on the date from city-data.com in 2009, then he’s doubling most people’s income, that’s hardly peanuts, and if $200 dollars extra from people coming out for a fight probably means a lot more than peanuts to those workers. However, none of it ever happened, but his choice of words will still resonate with anyone who works a regular job and provides for their family.
And then…
I have had the chance to attend the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Boxing Hall of Fame this year and it reaffirms my belief that the Boxing Hall of Fame needs a satellite office/location in Las Vegas. The reason as to why the Boxing Hall of Fame is in Canastota, NY is based on location at least that’s what I read at the HOF. Location may work well most of the time for businesses, but I have a hard time believing it was a smart move by the Boxing HOF. With a good majority of PPV fights being held as they have been the last couple decades in Vegas, the HOF is missing out on a huge number of visitors to the HOF. The HOF could also set up meet and greets with HOF members in conjunction with big fights, which would get fight fans intrigued at perhaps attending the HOF weekend in NY. That’s my thoughts at least.
A Thank you to Ian and Dana, whom I met out at the Football HOF, I owe you a drink and a couple bottles of water.
Fight Fans make sure to check out the predictions page for the Mares/Agbeko fight this weekend.