Kelly Pavlik Beats Marco Antonio Rubio

World middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik defeated Marco Antonio Rubio Saturday night with an easy, one-sided TKO victory in his home town of Youngstown, Ohio.

Pavlik, who was fighting for the first time since his lopsided loss to Bernard Hopkins in October, had no trouble controlling the pace of the fight, using his jab and his straight right hand to back Rubio away at will.

Rubio mounted almost no offense at all for much of the fight, and finally, after Pavlik battered him for nine rounds, Rubio didn't answer the bell for the 10th.

Still, for as one-sided a fight as it was, it wasn't a great performance from Pavlik. He never sent Rubio to the canvas and often looked hesitant. The way Rubio fought tonight, it's hard to see why a champion like Pavlik needed nine rounds to finish him off.

Pavlik, who improved his record to 35-1, retained his Ring Magazine, WBO and WBC middleweight titles. Rubio fell to 43-5-1.

"There's no place like home," Pavlik said in the ring afterward. "What a way to bounce back in front of my hometown."

Kelly Pavlik vs. Marco Antonio Rubio

AP

5 photos

Boxer Kelly Pavlik has his arm raised in victory by referee Frank Garza, right, after challenger Marco Antonio Rubo, of Mexico, failed to come out for the 10th round of a WBC/WBO World Middleweight Championship fight on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009 at Chevrolet Centre in Youngstown, Ohio. (AP Photo/David Richard)

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The Stage in The Vindy

Even though the physical article was kinda buried in the back of Wednesday's Food section (at least people in search of the TV grid found it!), we've gotten a barrage of calls and even hooked a few new acts for tonight! So thanks to Guy D'Astolfo, Todd Franko, and Milan Paurich (I know! Who'da thunk the Oakland would be thanking him after the comment-dramathon of 08?) for helping us out and paying attention to my annoying emails!

And then we made the top o' the Calendar in today's Entertainment EXTRA (which someone who shall remain nameless referred to as the "Thursday Etcetera," which I must say I quite like!):
http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/sep/18/the-stage-is-the-oakland-center-for-the/

Although lots of people (us included) complain about the Vindy a lot (like how it's gone from a regal name like "The Youngstown Vindicator" to "The Vindy"...), they do try hard to cover local events. And when they put their minds to it, they can do a really stellar job (see: Blitz, the section devoted entirely to high school football. Unecessary? Maybe. Ridiculous? I think so. But I'm sure many people feel the same about local theater, and we get tons of time in the spotlight).

What do you guys see as the future of The Vindicator? I remember being a kid, when the paper started adding color and then eventually advertising to the front page, and that made me uncomfortable (sorry, I'm a nerd). What will the future, with its enivronmentalism and tchnological advances, hold for print news? Will we have a print edition of this paper in, say, 10 years? What would Ytown be like sans paper?

Does anyone here read the Vindy's blogs? I think this is one of the best parts of the (online) paper. I like hearing directly from the editor and "regular people" (although I'll be the first to admit that I rarely do more than skim Tyler's blog, or as I call it "words, words, words").

My main gripe about the online version is the lack of photos that accompany articles. I like a good layout, and I miss it when it's not there. Speaking of good layouts, someone had the genius idea to place the Stage article right next to the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia article. A designer after my own heart, I'd say.

So set your DVR or VCR of whatever to record IASIP on FX tonight and bring your booty on down to the happenin' spot: The Stage at the Oakland, from 8-11. We'll be here, Biden or not. Will you?

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