07.08.04 – By Jim Amato: The pot is brewing and the war drums are beating. Not since the days when Youngstown natives Ray Mancini and Harry Arroyo ruled the lightweight division has there been a clamor for two local favorites to face off. Two young and undefeated prospects are on collision course. Youngstown’s Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik and Mansfield, Ohio’s Tony “The Tiger” Hanshaw have won 39 pro fights between them. Hanshaw has very strong ties to the Warren, Ohio area and a very strong following in these parts. Pavlik is 21-0 while Hanshaw sports a 18-0 record.
The two have very strong amatuer backrounds. Hanshaw just lost out to Jermaine Taylor in his Olympic bid and we all see how well Jermaine is doing these days in the pro ranks. In a meeting between Hanshaw and Pavlik during the 2000 Olympic boxing trials, Hanshaw won a very close and somewhat disputed verdict. To this day Kelly feels he won that fight. Pavlik was 17 at the time, Hanshaw was 21 years old. As professionals Kelly has had more fights but Hanshaw has been in with a little stiffer competition. Tony won a debatable decision over highly regarded Kingsley Ikeke.
Each have had stretches on inactivity but they both seem to now be focused on their dreams of winning a world title. They just seem to be standing in each others way. One or the other has to be eliminated sooner or later. One train of thought is why not wait until each has won a piece of the title? Then when they meet it will be for all the marbles as well as local bragging rights.
Others feel that it is time to strike while the iron is hot. There is enough local fan interest in this meeting to produce a nice little bonanza.Also both Pavlik and Hanshaw have had TV exposure and it’s a pretty sure bet that several of the cable stations would be interested in putting this fight on right now. Why wait ? Who would win ? Tough call. Each boxer has tremendous talent and potential. Hanshaw is probably the more seasoned of the two but Kelly has a great inner confidence in himself. I don’t want to make any predictions but I would surely pay to see this fight!