Kelly Pavlik “Ghost” Stories!
April 20, 2024
Simon Ruvalcaba
With a recent trip to Los Angeles, spending a couple of days hanging with Kelly Pavlik and James Dominguez, there are 2 stories that I learned about during the trip that I’ll be sharing. No, they aren’t the story of how James and Kelly argue like a married couple…lol. All and all, though, on a serious note, I got to see how genuine Kelly is as a human being and I’ve known the character of James for many years. It is no wonder now, why they click to bring you a great show which will now be on Mondays 7 P.M. Eastern/4 P.M. Pacific starting January 21st with newly crowned champion Caleb “Sweet Hands” Plant expected to be the show’s special guest!
Roger Mayweather and his soda cans:
By now, I’m sure many have seen Mayweather Promotion’s Leonard Ellerbe tell the stories about the way Kelly would run fighters out of the gym back in the days when Mayweather and Pavlik trained at the Top Rank gym in Las Vegas. Pavlik was young and still with his God gifted heavy hands, he developed a reputation in the gym for his tenacity! Roger Mayweather would have a soda can and when a fighter would confirm that he was the one about to spar Pavlik, Roger would stomp and crush the soda can and say “That’s you then.” It is also almost like a badge of honor at a gym, which the show has covered racism in boxing before, but for a white skinned fighter to gain respect with the minorities in the gym, it speaks alot about how talented Kelly Pavlik was and is!
Kelly Pavlik/Michael Jackson connection:
As told by Mark Lamica, who represented Michael. Jackson was a known hoarder of collectibles and when he learned that Mark knows Kelly, Michael requested signed gloves from Pavlik. Kelly signed the gloves and had them ready anytime Mark was in Ohio, to be picked up and taken to Michael. On a few consecutive travels to Ohio, Lamica forgot to stop by and pick up the gloves. On June 24, 2009 Mr. Lamica was in Ohio again and this time Kelly called him to remind him to pick up the signed gloves and take them back to give to Michael the next day. June 25th Mark had the gloves and boarded the flight back to Los Angeles…the same day that Michael went into cardiac arrest and passed away.
About the Editor
Army Veteran and former Professional Boxer Simon Ruvalcaba started boxing at the age of ten and Had a 71 fight amateur career which featured a 139 lbs. 1998 8th U.S. Army Boxing Championship out of Camp Casey, Korea and a spot on the prestigious Army Boxing Team at Fort Hood, TX. After a journeyman pro career of 18 fights, which included sparring sessions with many champions and contenders including Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell “Sweat Pea” Whitaker, Simon started writing and has contributed to many publications and websites including fighthype.com, pound4pound.com, Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, CA), Nevada Appeal (Carson City, NV). He has also been the Boxing Instructor for Ken Shamrock and The Lions Den and was MMA and Bareknuckle star Paige VanZant’s first boxing coach!
Born and Raised in South Lake Tahoe, California he now resides in Sun Valley, Nevada and spends as much time as possible with his Sons Gabriel and Oscar! Beyond boxing, Simon is an all around sports fanatic and is passionate about the teams that he roots for. Simon also works as a Sportsbook Supervisor for Caesars Sportsbook in Lake Tahoe.
