By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KO’s) finds himself in a do or die situation next month in his fight against the hard hitting Bryan Vera (17-5, 11 KO’s) in their 10 round bout on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito bout at the Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. Pavlik, 28, has been more or less exposed as a limited slugger in losing two out of his last four fights.

Pavlik lost his last fight against Sergio Martinez in April, and in losing that bout, Pavlik lost both of his middleweight belts. Pavlik now is fighting Vera, a fighter made to order for Pavlik. Vera has lost four out of his last five fights, and a win over him should give boxing fans the appearance that Pavlik has turned his career around.

However, in reality, it will only prove that Pavlik can beat another plodding stationary fighter, which other than his two losses, has been mainly the types of fighters that Pavlik has been matched up against during his 10-year pro career.

In an article by Dan Rafael of ESPN, Pavlik says “This is life and death for me as a fighter. I must win. The future is now.” Pavlik must win this fight if he’s to move forward and get a shot against one of the middleweight or super middleweight belts. Pavlik could possibly fight IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute in March 2011.

But that would mean that Pavlik would have to move up in weight to the super middleweight division. Pavlik is still interested in staying at middleweight and trying to recapture one of his lost titles. HBO wants to see Pavlik face Bute, but Pavlik may opt for the much safer route and stay at middleweight and face the winner of the Sergio Martinez vs. Paul Williams.

Pavlik wants to face Martinez again, because that’s who beat him in his last fight. Pavlik fought decent during the middle rounds of the Martinez bout, but then ran out of gas and took heavy punishment in the last four rounds.

Vera could upset all of Pavlik’s big plans if he’s able to turn their fight into a war. Pavlik likes to brawl, but then again he was beaten at his own game in his last fight against Martinez. Vera does well against sluggers for the most part, and struggles against pure boxers.