A Ghost from Ohio

Remember Sunday when I said I wasn't a NASCAR fan but I watched the Daytona 500 simply to see if fellow Ohioan Sam Hornish, Jr., would do well? I've never been into boxing either, but I saw a ghost, and now I'm all eyes and ears.

"The Ghost" is what the boxing promoters are calling the Youngstown, Ohio native Kelly Pavlik (I'm assuming because he's pasty white). That's right. He's from Ohio and he's the Middleweight Champion of the World.

I first found out about Pavlik in a beautifully written article in Sports Illustrated. Pavlik, apparently is a good ol' hometown boy. He lives in Youngstown, trains in Youngstown and has the same trainer that he started with when he was a kid.

He's 25 years old and I've unfortunately missed out on most of his perfect 33-0 record with 29 knockouts to start his career. Last weekend, he successfully defended his title in a rematch against Jermain Taylor. In 2007 alone, he won three fights, all by knockout, including taking the title from Taylor. Folks were saying it was "The Year of the Ghost."

Anyone that is proud of their Ohio hometown like Pavlik, is all right with me. This is a kid that won his middleweight championship wearing silver trunks with the classic Ohio State football stripes down the side and a Block O and buckeye leaf on one leg. Talk about a man after my own heart.

If you can't love Pavlik for that, love him for the way he fights. Like I said, I was never a huge boxing fan, but he's fun to watch. He takes shot, shakes it off and then comes back at his opponent and hits him harder than he got hit. He's got explosive punching power which is evident with his 29 knockouts.

His boxing style seemingly stems from his upbringing. He was raised in the steel valley (much like me) and Youngstown suffered huge hits from mills and plants being shut down. It's one of those blue collar towns where folks work hard with their hands and sweat for earn their dough. He's got that kind of grit. There's no quit or back down in him. Pavlik seems to be living the boxing cliche. You know, Rocky Balboa.

Take a couple minutes and visit his web site which has clips from his three fights before Pavlik/Taylor II. It's worth a watch. Here's a clip from his title victory. After watching Pavlik, maybe you too will believe in "the ghost."