By Dan Ambrose: It’s good to fight for Top Rank. Former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (37-2, 32 KO’s) will be fighting either next month or on April 14th against possible opponent Scott Sigmon.

If Pavlik wins that fight in addition to another tune-up bout against a still to be determined opponent, Pavlik’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank plans on giving Pavlik a title shot against Arum’s gem moneymaker WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in either late 2012 or early 2013. Pavlik wants that fight badly, because he sees Chavez Jr. as a vulnerable fighter that he can beat with ease.

Pavlik, however, has to look good in his next two fights because he hasn’t exactly impressed since losing his WBC and WBO titles to Sergio Martinez in April 2010. Pavlik looked heavy, lethargic and slow in that fight and took a beating from Martinez. In his last fight last year in May, Pavlik struggled to defeat Alfonso Lopez by a 10 round majority decision.

In fairness to Pavlik, he had a fighter in front of him who was using a lot of movement and direction changing. However, Pavlik didn’t show any improvement from his loss to Martinez, and if Lopez had a little more going for him he would have won that fight. Pavlik now has a new trainer in Robert Garcia and new training digs in Oxnard, California. Supposedly, he’s improved on his game, but we won’t know that until he shows it in the ring in March or April.

According to 21 Sports, Pavlik prefers to get back in the ring next month rather than waiting until April 14th to fight on the undercard of the Brandon Rios vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa fight. I can’t blame him, because if he feels he’s ready now then it’s better to get back in the ring as soon as possible rather than waiting another month. Besides, Pavlik’s bout was rumored to be an off television bout, so there’s not a big upside to fighting on the Rios-Gamboa card if Pavlik’s fight isn’t even going to be televised. Pavlik wants his next fight to be in Las Vegas.