Former WBC/WBO world champion from 2007 to 2010 Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik would acknowledge the four Youngstown, Ohio, former world champions if they were at ringside after one of his fights while being interviewed.
In a city of 67,000 people (2014) to have five former world boxing champions is very impressive. Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini the former WBA lightweight champion 1982-84 is probably the most well-known. Harry Arroyo, IBF lightweight champion 1984-85 was a favorite of mine. Jeff Lampkin was IBF cruiserweight champion 1990. Greg “Flea” Richardson was WBC bantamweight champion in 1991.
Mancini having a movie made of his life certainly gave him more exposure than the other four. He was 21 when he defeated Arturo Frias in May of 1982 in the 1st round at Las Vegas, NV. He made his first attempt for a world title against Alexis Arguello in October of 1981 for the WBC title being stopped in the 14th round. He ended his career in April of 1992 with a 29-5 (23) record losing his last four fights.
IBF lightweight champion Harry Arroyo won the title in April of 1984 over Philadelphia’s Charlie “Choo Choo” Brown in Atlantic City, NJ. He made two defenses before losing to Jimmy Paul in April 1985. He fought from 1980 to 1993. He ended with a 40-11 (30) record.
WBC Bantamweight champion Greg “The Flea” Richardson made his first attempt for a world title losing to Jeff Fenech for his WBC super bantamweight title in July of 1990. He came back in February of 1991 to defeat WBC champion Raul Perez in Inglewood, CA. He made one defense before losing in his second one. He followed up with two more attempts against two other champions in his next two fights. He ended his career 31-8-1 (4) from 1982 to 1996.
IBF cruiserweight champion Jeff Lampkin won the title in March of 1990 stopping Glenn McCrory in the UK. He made one defense before moving up to heavyweight boxing from 1980-1997. He ended with a 39-19-1 (34) record.
Pavlik won the WBC/WBO middleweight titles stopping Jermain Taylor in September of 2007 in Atlantic City, NJ. He made three defenses before losing to Sergio Martinez in April of 2010. He ended his career with a 40-2 (34) record from 2000 to 2012.
One of the Youngstown boxers who didn’t win a world title was Bobby Joe Young who was known for being the only one to defeat Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor in his 40 fights.
