Planning paid off with smooth fight-night operations at Chevy Centre

By David Skolnick

YOUNGSTOWN — It was a smooth operation.

That’s what officials with the Chevrolet Centre said about the sold-out boxing card headlined by Kelly Pavlik’s successful middleweight title defense Saturday.

Preparing for the event was hectic for the center’s staff with planning the reason for success, said Brandon Bucar, the facility’s assistant director and its director of facilities.

“Our staff handled these past few days with the utmost professionalism and efficiency,” Bucar said. “The effort by everyone made this event what it was.”

Only minutes after Pavlik thanked his hometown crowd for supporting him, the staff of the center and Top Rank, which promoted the fight and broadcast it on pay-per-view, began the tear-down process.

In less than an hour, most of the 1,600 ringside seats and the ring were removed.

The crews spent about four hours taking down the ring, the overhead lights, the big-screen televisions and removing the seats.

“We didn’t have any major hiccup, and everything ran smoothly,” Eric Ryan, center’s executive director. “The only glitch was the mic(rophone) at the end didn’t work.”

After the fight, the in-ring interviews conducted by Top Rank couldn’t be heard inside the center.

Ryan spoke with pride about the facility.

“This is truly what the Chevy Centre was built for,” he said. “No doubt we were a stimulus for the community. It’s a very proud moment.”

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com