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Niles lad's wish comes true, meets Kelly Pavlik                             

Another superstar in
Kelly Pavlik's stable
By Mike Varveris

Besides Kelly Pavlik, Youngtown's unbeaten WBC and WBO world middleweight champion, Top Rank Boxing has another potential boxing superstar in its stable: undefeated WBA welterweight champion Miquel Cotto.
The hard-punching 28-year-old Puerto Rican boxer boosted his record to 31-0 with 25 knockouts by knocking out Alfono Gomez (18-4) in the 5^th round of a one-sided match at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City to retain his crown.
Cotto dominated the fight from round one with a flurry of rights and lefts that reddened Gomez face. From then he attacked  Gomez with tremendous body shots until Alfono sank to the canvas and was counted out.
The Cotto-Gomez fight was the second of two welterweight championship fights, both of which were shown on HBO. Antonio Margarito upset IBF welterweight champion Kermit Cintron in sensational 6^th round knockout in a slugfest. Margarito, who is now 36-5 with 25 knockouts survived some heavy bombs to the body in the first round  to kayo he former champ with a hard right to the chin and a left hook to the body.
It was give and take from the 2^nd to the fatal 6^th for Cintron whose only two losses have come at the hands of Margarito.
After the fight, the excited Margarito challenged Cotto to a match that could unify the IBF and WBA titles.
The better-known WBC welterweight champ, unbeaten Floyd Mayweather, is slated to meet Oscar de la Hoya in a rematch that would produce a more lucrative payday fighting than fighting the other lesser-known welterweight champs.
In the middleweight division, Pavlik says he would like to unify the 160-pound division in bouts with WBA champ Felix Sturm and IBF titleholder Arthur Abraham before going after the super middleweight and light-heavyweight titles.
Right now his concern is the hard-punching Gary "The Rocket" Lockett  as he defends his WBO and WBC titles for the first time.  The fight is slated on June 7 in  Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Kelly is not taking Locket lightly and is training like he's going to fight Jermain Taylor for the third time.

OSU's Terelle Pryor
is much like LeBron
By Mike Varveris

OSU's Terelle Pryor is very much like the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James.
Pryor comes to the Buckeyes from Jeanette (Pa.) High School as the nation's top-rated scholastic quarterback while LeBron came the Cavaliers from Akron St. Mary's High School as the nation's top scholastic basketball player, and a starter at the age of 18.
There was one major difference. High school basketball players can go directly to the NBA as LeBron did, while high school football players must play collegiate football two years before entering the NFL.
There's no question that Pryor would have been a No. 1 selection in the NFL drafted if permitted, and he probably would become a starter in no time.
Terelle, who is looking forward to his collegiate career at Ohio State, led his team to a 16-0 record this year and had a career records in rushing of  4,238 yards and  4,300 in passing in leading his team to PIAA and WPIAL titles.
A tall quarterback at 6-foot-6, he also starred in basketball with his high school basketball team scoring 2,000 career points and also leading his team to PIAA and WPIAL championships, a first in Western Pa.
LeBron was also an outstanding player on the gridiron with Akron St. Mary's but picked basketball over football as his career vocation and could become the NBA's most valuable player this year at age 23 leading the league with 30.3 points per game average.
Pryor has been recognized as the high school player of the year by Parade Magazine, USA Today. Superprep, PrepNation and others.
When Terelle signed with Ohio State, Coach Jim Tressel said, "we're so proud to have Terelle, with his football and baskeball success, He has a passion to be a great football player. We think his future is tremendous. We couldn't be happier."
Everyone in Ohio feels he same way. He could have signed with Michigan, Penn State or Oregon and did a lot of thinking before choosing the Buckeyes.
During his interview, he donned the Ohio State cap, and said, "I'm an 18-year-old kid but I feel like a man….I am ready to play and help my team win… and be a great quarterback…and I want to  help the Buckeyes get the national title back."
Terelle is very competitive and confident when he speaks, much like LeBron, and is almost as big as LeBron at 6-6 and 235 pounds. LeBron is 6-8 and 240.
Ohio State fans are certain they will see a super star in action when Terelle takes his first snap this fall in hopes of becoming Ohio State's next starting quarterback.                       

Joe McGuire meets and shakes hands with his idol, Kelly Pavlik  That's his mother next to him along with some folks from Make-A-Wish. Photos by Mike Varveris.

Joe holds the boxing gloves given to him by Kelly and poses with the champion.

By Mike Varveris

The local Make-A-Wish Foundation made a wish come true for a 14-year-old  Niles youngster last week at the Southside Boxing club gym
Joe McGuire, who has been diagnosed with acute lymphobiastic leukemia  (a cancer affecting his white cells) had one wish. He met his hero, Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik, middleweight champion of the world who was in training at the gym. The lad got more than he bargained for. Not only did he meet Kelly, shake hands with him and see him in training, he received a pair of red boxing gloves signed by the champ.
The thrill of being with Kelly in center stage could be seen in his eyes. When asked what he thought of meeting the champ, he expressed himself with one loud word, "HAPPY!!" Asked what he thought of receiving the gloves from the champ, he said, "SWEET"!!
He later said Kelly signed one of the gloves for his friend "who has the same thing I do." With him were his mother and a group from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Recently, Larry Lencyk of Canfield and Jeff Simon of Poland bought a pair of gloves signed by Kelly for $3,000 each. That money was then donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation that Simon said is a "charity which I always support for the work it does for these kids.".
Since 1980, he Make-A-Wish Foundation has enriched the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions by granting them their great wish…no matter what the cost.
Seeing these kids with a smile on their faces and a twinkle in their eyes in the midst of their illness as they receive their wishes is the goal of the Make-A-Wish volunteers.

Miquel Cotto lands a crushing left to Alfono Gomez's body.  CONTRIBUTED PHOTO.

YSU Dance Ensemble
annual spring concert

The YSU Dance Ensemble will present its annual spring concert May 1, 2 and 3 at 8 p.m. in Bliss Hall's Ford Theater.
Under the direction of Christine Cobb, faculty member in the department of Theater and Dance, 16 YSU students will be featured in 12 distinct dances. Genres of modern, tap, hip hop and Irish step dance will be included. Both student and faculty choreography will be featured. 
The YSU Dance Ensemble, a sanctioned student organization sponsored in part by Student Government, accepts members via an audition process in the fall term. Members practice weekly and hone their performance skills as well as their leadership skills. Cobb noted, "The young women who audition and are accepted into the YSU Dance Ensemble put countless hours into practicing their discipline. They also learn the basics of running a student organization since they must elect officers and participate in activities. The spring concert is the culmination of their year-long efforts."
Tickets are $3 for YSU students, seniors, and children under 12; $5 for YSU faculty and staff, and $7.00 for the general public. More information may be obtained by calling 330-941-3105. Tickets will only be available at the door and are not sold in advance.

Terelle Pryor and LeBron James.  CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS.