» Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik may rise again to fight undefeated Alfonso Lopez of Cut and Shoot boxing club, on the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley undercard May 7 in Las Vegas, Pavlik’s manager Cameron Dunkin said…

Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik may rise again to fight undefeated Alfonso Lopez of Cut and Shoot boxing club, on the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley undercard May 7 in Las Vegas, Pavlik’s manager Cameron Dunkin said.

Dunkin, who acknowledged Lopez’s achievement, explained the Texas-based super middleweight must go through a review process before he can approve the bout.

“He’s a big, tough guy,” Dunkin said to RING. “I want to watch the tape. If we feel he’s the right opponent and he can make 168 pounds, we’ll go with him. If we don’t like what we see, then we’ll revisit other guys we’ve talked about.”

Among other potential opponents under consideration, Dunkin mentioned Brian Vera – who defeated Sergio Mora by unanimous decision on Feb. 4 – and Joe Spina.

Lopez (21-0, 16 KOs), who has only fought twice under 170 pounds (167 pounds), most recently defeated Romaro Johnson by 12^th round technical knockout in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 4.

On the other hand, Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs) has not fought since he lost his RING middleweight championship to Sergio Martinez via unanimous decision last April.

—Alex Neely

Top Rank Promotions CEO, Bob Arum, says the under card of Showtime’s main event featuring eight-division titlist Manny Pacquiao against three-division, five-time champion, Shane Mosley, could be haunted by the comeback of a “Ghost”.

Former WBC and WBO middleweight (160 pounds) champion, Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 knockouts) may return to the ring on May 7, according to Arum.

“We’re holding a spot on that card,” said Arum to Boxing Fanhouse. “Kelly wants to do it, we want to do it. So there is a big possibility that he could be on the card.”

28-year old Pavlik had been released from Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on Jan. 4, after having been admitted for alcohol issues on Nov. 4.

Although the comeback of the Youngstown, Ohio-native will inevitably spark potential match-up speculations, Pavlik’s manager, Cameron Dunkin, wants to make it clear that his personal matters come first.

“Kelly told me that he doesn’t want to disappoint anybody any more. He wants to get his life in order,” Dunkin said previous to his release. “So we’re just bringing him home and letting him see his family, and then we’ll let him rest and talk about his career or whatever else in a week or two.”

Pavlik’s alcohol problems stemmed back to 2007, during which he dethroned Jermain Taylor in an impressive seventh-round knockout in Atlantic City.

After another decision victory over Taylor, and third-round stoppage over Gary Lockett, Pavlik suffered his first loss at the hands of Bernard Hopkins (in a bout at 170 pounds) by decision in October of 2008.

Pavlik recovered with two straight knockout victories, before being dethroned in April by unanimous decision, to now Pound-for-Pound ranked, Sergio Martinez.

Most recently, Pavlik had been scheduled to fight on the Nov. 13 under card of Pacquiao versus Antonio Margarito for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title at Dallas Stadium; however, cited a rib injury as his reason for pulling out of the bout with Bryan Lee Vera.

Personal problems and speculations aside, it will be interesting to see if the “Ghost” will have the capability to instill fear in the middleweight division again.

— Alex Neely

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Gym photo: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer