By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (38-2, 33 KO’s) says he’s going to speak with his manager to consider facing super middleweight contender Adonis Stevenson (18-1, 15 KO’s) in an IBF 168 pound eliminator bout to try and become the mandatory challenger for International Boxing Federation champion Carl Froch.

Pavlik said to Vindy.com “I’m not in a situation to pass anything up. I’ll sit down with [co-manager] Cameron Dunkin and see what he thinks.”

Pavlik will be fighting Scott Sigmon this Saturday night in a 10 round bout on ESPN2. Pavlik is expected to win that fight easily, as Sigmon is a C level opponent and not someone that will give Pavlik any problems.

Stevenson is scheduled to fight on August 11th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. That could be too early of a date for the 30-year-old Pavlik, because he wanted to get back in the ring in either late August or early September. However, he likely could make the fight if he and his promotional team really wanted the fight with the hard hitting Stevenson. Pavlik’s management teak will likely say not to the idea of him fighting Stevenson, because his promoter has ideas of Pavlik fighting fellow Top Rank fighter WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in early 2013.

A fight against Stevenson would help Pavlik out in terms of bringing back his popularity with boxing fans, but don’t hold your breath waiting for Pavlik to be put in with Stevenson. He’s too dangerous and Pavlik will likely be kept on the easy course until he faces someone like Chavez Jr. next year. I doubt that Pavlik will even get the Chavez Jr. fight. Either Chavez Jr. will get beat or his promoter Bob Arum will look to put him in with a softer opponent. Pavlik will probably be steered against lesser fighters than Stevenson as he inches slowly to an eventual title shot in year or two.