Kelly Pavlik interested in fighting Tony Bellew

Former unified middleweight world titleholder Kelly Pavlik has at least one opponent in mind as he prepares for his return to the ring.

As FightNights.com first reported last month, Pavlik (40-2, 34 KO's), 36, of Youngstown, Ohio, is likely coming back to box as a cruiserweight.

Sources exclusively informed FightNights.com late Wednesday evening that Pavlik is evaluating a potential fight against former cruiserweight titlist Tony Bellew, who retired following an eighth-round knockout loss to 2018 FightNights.com Fighter of the Year and elite pound-for-pound contender Oleksandr Usyk (16-0, 12 KO's) last November.

Bellew (30-3-1, 20 KO's), 36, considered retirement after his second victory over David Haye last May, but the appeal of a shot at winning the undisputed championship against Usyk was too much to pass up.

Pavlik who retired after outpointing Will Rosinsky in a 10-round bout on July 7, 2012, is not yet medically cleared to fight again. He also briefly considered making a comeback a year ago to fight former unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.

Pavlik held the 160-pound crown from 2007 -- when he got off the floor from a hard knockdown to eventually stop Jermain Taylor in the seventh round -- until 2010, when he was outpointed by Sergio Martinez in a bloody affair.

Pavlik, known as "The Ghost," made three successful defenses, scoring KO victories against Gary Lockett, Marco Antonio Rubio, and Miguel Espino. He also outpointed Taylor in a non-title rematch at 164 pounds. Pavlik also lost a one-sided decision to Bernard Hopkins in an October 2008 non-title bout at 170 pounds.