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Tuesday, November 26, 2002

By Chuck Finder, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Paul Spadafora has a scheduling snag. No, it has nothing to do with a potential bout against Arturo Gatti. Rather, it's about making a guest appearance tomorrow night at a professional boxing show in Western Pennsylvania.

The problem: Spadafora, the International Boxing Federation lightweight champion, cannot be in three places at once.

Maybe it's his own fault.

Three different boxing cards are scheduled for various locales the night before Thanksgiving: the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Mountaineer Race Track & Gaming Resort and an Erie hotel. It might well be a byproduct of the rise of Spadafora, a McKees Rocks boxer who has attracted crowds in excess of 25,000 at his half-dozen title defenses in the area and appeared live on ESPN2, HBO and pay-per-view.

Now that he has helped to create the monster, his longtime friends, handlers and promoters ask him to continue to feed it by stopping by their shows. Jimmy Cvetic, his Third Avenue Gym a Downtown ring place that Spadafora still frequents, is putting on a professional-amateur card at the Convention Center that is expected to draw several thousand fans. Spadafora co-trainer Tommy Yankello is helping with a pro-am lineup at Mountaineer's Grande Ballroom headlined by national amateur champion Verquan Kimbrough, who attracted a thousand spectators there three months ago. And promoter Mike Acri typically gets another thousand folks to watch his pre-Thanksgiving offering at Erie's Avalon Hotel ballroom.

That's where Spadafora will appear tomorrow night, partly because Acri is his ultimate boss, partly because he probably owes a debt of gratitude to Lou and Ernie Bizzaro, in whose Erie gym he trains.

And there's no way he could get to Chester, W.Va., and Pittsburgh, too.

"I feel I helped a lot of kids out," Spadafora said of his effect on local boxing, sitting in Cvetic's gym. "This is where I started."

"I really think Paul is the reason [for the sport's increased popularity locally]," Acri agreed. "There's no question Paul's invigorated the area."

Added Yankello: "Paul's surely No. 1. But I think Verquan's done a lot for the area, too. Verquan's done some things that no one's done in the amateur program for a long time. Both of those guys have really enlightened the area to boxing."

Acri's card is his 18th annual Erie Classic and features a lineup highlighted by the hometown Bizzaros. It starts at 8 p.m. Some $15 tickets are available at the hotel.

"It's a great night to run," Acri said.

The show created by Greg Nixon and Yankello includes Kimbrough, Yankello-trained pro heavyweight Abraham Okine plus two other local pros, Monte Clay of Rankin and Scott McCracken of Aliquippa. The organizers began putting on cards two years ago, starting with a handful at the Pepsi Roadhouse in Washington County, one in Steubenville, Ohio, a recent one in Uniontown, and now this second showing at Mountaineer with Kimbrough.

"Our whole thing is that we showcase Verquan, have a pro show and still have him on," Yankello said. "I think people really like that."

Their show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35, $25 and $15 and are available through Ticketmaster plus the Main Street Deli in Aliquippa.

Cvetic has 18 fight nights booked for the Convention Center through 2005. A former county detective, he has help from the Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League, where he continues to play an active role, and from Pittsburgh Brewing -- the title sponsor. Cvetic has on tomorrow's card such local fighters as Rayco "War" Saunders of Beltzhoover and Mike "Fully Loaded" Carr of the North Side along with several amateurs, including publicized high school boxer Bridget Fenton of Mt. Lebanon.

The card starts at 7 p.m. Tickets, costing $25, $20 and $15, are available through Pittsburgh Brewing, Mitchell's Restaurant and the Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League.

"They're all my friends," Cvetic said of the other promoters putting on shows the same night as his. "Each one has something unique. But we're Iron City Pro Boxing. I'm bringing in all the Pittsburgh champions. If you really think about it, how's West Virginia going to hurt us?" He added, joking about Nixon: "Those guys are working out of a trailer park, anyway."

In a more serious vein, Cvetic concluded of the state of local boxing, "As far as I'm concerned, you can get to a higher level of boxing in Pittsburgh. Mike Acri proved it. He made Paul Spadafora the champion of the world."