Last Thursday, I was awakened by a phone call at 5:10 am by my mother explaining the grave news that my grandfather had passed away just hours before in his sleep. I immediately made arrangements to depart campus for home to attend services and stay through Monday morning. Under the sudden, life altering situation, I never thought twice about what I needed to do: I had to be with my grandmother and the rest of the family.

The news was somewhat expected, but the effect didn’t hit home until the services on Friday and Saturday. There seemed to have been a dark cloud cast on my entire family by Saturday evening – leaving everyone contemplating deeply about their own lives.

Enter Kelly “The Ghost� Pavlik, professional middle-weight boxer.

Kelly, a friend of the family and local hero, was facing the bout of his life as he and incumbent Jermaine Taylor squared off Saturday evening in Atlantic City for the WBC middleweight championship of the world. Both fighters entered the night undefeated, and much ado was made throughout my hometown to rally support for Team Pavlik.

Originally, my brother and his friends had tickets and a night’s stay on the Jersey Shore to witness his friend’s memorable fight; however, due to the urgent family affairs, he had unquestionably stayed home for the services. Nevertheless, by Saturday evening we all needed something to smile about.

Therefore, around 11:00 pm, my family elected to cram into a Youngstown basement along with seven other families to view the fight on HBO. Although miles away from the eastern sea border, one could feel the electricity and excitement via telewire as Kelly – adorned in official OSU Buckeye trunks - entered the ring amidst an ovation of nearly 6,000 Youngstown natives – in a venue that only holds 10,000.

Just as any heroic story ends, the good guy wins. And for us, the good guy was Kelly. A proud son, parent, fighter, and now champion, Kelly was able to produce celebrations clear across the state of Ohio as he proudly - yet humbly - hoisted the championship belt in the air, thanking God and his Youngstown fans for their continued support.

Words are hard to describe how I felt as I watched him celebrate in the ring after his seventh round knockout. On the same day that my family unfortunately buried my grandfather, we were fortunate enough to witness a young man’s life change – for the better – in the blink of an eye. Undoubtedly, his success was solely a result of Kelly’s own blood, sweat, and tears; however, what made that weekend special was his ability to unite a city…or, more specifically, my family…especially when we needed it most.

Perhaps these photographs below – taken by the local newspaper on the day of Kelly's return to the valley – portray the feelings that words cannot convey.