SAN ANTONIO – Kelly Pavlik, the former lineal middleweight world champion and fighting pride of Ohio, approached the small stage at a crowded cantina, Friday afternoon, after joking he’d be at a loss for words if asked to address the South Texas crowd. Then he climbed on the scale and showed more pounds and tattoos than his old fans remembered.
More pounds, perhaps, but still within the contracted weight for his Saturday fight. More tattoos, definitely, but apparently more comfortable in his own skin that he’s been in a while.
Friday afternoon at Ojos Locos, a sports bar northwest of the downtown area, Pavlik (37-2, 32 KOs) and his Saturday “Top Rank Live” co-main event opponent, Aaron Jaco (15-2, 5 KOs), who calls himself “Jedi” but whose knockout record shows limited use of the force, each came in under their agreed-upon weight of 170 pounds. Pavlik weighed 169 1/4 pounds, while Jaco made 169 1/2.
Saturday will be Pavlik’s first match with new trainer Robert Garcia, who indicated Pavlik had no trouble whatever with weight during their 10-week training camp. Saturday will also mark the promotional debut of retired world champion Jesse James Leija, a native son of San Antonio’s and owner of two local ChampionFit Gyms.
“Five and a half weeks ago,” said Leija, when asked at a Thursday open workout when he decided to become a promoter. “My buddy Mike Battah and I were talking about bringing fights back to San Antonio, and we started talking to the right guys, like (Pavlik manager) Cameron Dunkin, about a core base of fighters that people would want to come see.”
Leija and Battah Promotions will make its first event in Alamodome’s Illusions Theatre – so named, in part, because it comprises a temporary stage, ceiling and curtain arrangement converted from an existing stretch of Alamodome’s endless floor – with plans for regular shows, as many as six in the new firm’s first year.
“They needed a place to put the fight, and we had a couple different places,” said Leija. “But I said let’s do the Alamodome. We’re just going to have to work harder.”
Local interest has apparently kept pace with Leija’s ambitions, as noted matchmaker Chris Middendorf verified Thursday.
“This is a great fight city,” Middendorf said of San Antonio. “So much local interest.”
Middendorf’s assessment was proved apt Friday at Ojos Locos, where the weighin for a comparatively small, Spanish-language-broadcast card brought a full bar’s worth of supporters out on a workday afternoon, hours before quitting time.
Alamo City’s tradition of supporting boxing cards is part of what convinced Leija to start promoting, regardless of what aficionados sometimes opine of his new profession.
“The number one sport for Mexican-Americans is boxing, and we have a huge base of Mexican-Americans here in San Antonio,” said Leija. “And no one can take your good name away from you except you.”
Leija promised that as a promoter he would remain a fighter’s guy.
“Look, I know what they’re going through,” said Leija. “I know what it’s like to have to do this to put food on the table for your wife, and for your kids. I’ve been there. You get paid, and the check goes in two weeks. I know.”
Leija’s hope is to create an infrastructure that can nurture young professional talent in what has long been one of the country’s best fight cities. That hope currently rests on the 119-pound frame of Adam Lopez (1-0, 1 KO), a local amateur standout who will make his second career prizefight Saturday, against Puerto Rican Ramon Bayala (0-2). Ivan Najera (6-0, 5 KOs), a San Antonio lightweight who will face Detroit’s James Lester (9-7, 4 KOs) Saturday, is also expected to attract ticket-buyers.
Saturday’s main event will see undefeated Russian featherweight Evgeny Gradovich (12-0, 6 KOs) fight Mexican Franky Leal (16-5-3, 10 KOs). Alamodome doors will open at 5:00 PM local time, with first bell scheduled to ring on its eight-match card at 6:00. 15rounds.com will have full ringside coverage.
