By Jim Dower: The news from HBO analyst Larry Merchant about former World Boxing Council/World Boxing Organization middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KO’s) deciding to not use his rematch clause with Sergio Martinez is false, according to Pavlik’s trainer Jack Loew. After Saturday night’s fight between Kermit Cintron and Paul Williams, Merchant said that Pavlik wouldn’t be fighting a rematch with Martinez and that he wouldn’t be fighting at middleweight any longer. However, in an interview at Vindy.com, Pavlik’s trainer, Loew says “I don’t know where Larry Merchant got that, I really don’t.”

Pavlik will speak to Loew on Monday to perhaps discuss whether or not fight use his rematch clause to fight the 35-year-old Martinez. Pavlik has until May 17th to use the rematch clause or else he’ll lose the ability to get a rematch. Pavlik was battered by Martinez in a 12 round decision loss on April 17th, a fight in which Pavlik was cut over both eyes and left a bloody mess by the end of the fight. Pavlik looked slow and one-dimensional in the fight, just as he had in his loss to Bernard Hopkins in 2008, and didn’t have an answer for Martinez’s speed and movement.

Pavlik, out of pride may opt for a rematch with Martinez, but the way he has looked in his fights against Hopkins and Martinez, he might be better off forgetting about a rematch and looking at either taking on one of the slower, more stationary middleweight champions or else move up in weight to the light heavyweight division. Pavlik has been having weight issues and came into his fight with Martinez weighing a huge 178. Hopefully, Pavlik isn’t seeing his weight as the reason he lost to Martinez, because I doubt he would have any more of a chance even if he came into the fight weighing a skinny 160. Pavlik has always been slow on his feet and weight won’t change that.