Although former middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins (48-5-1, 32 KOs) indicated he absolutely, positively was through with boxing, after his April 19 split-decision loss to Welshman Joe Calzaghe, he is coming back on Oct. 18 for a matchup with 26-year-old Kelly Pavlik (34-0, 32 KOs) in Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall.

The contract weight is 170 pounds, and Pavlik's WBC and WBO middleweight championships will not be on the line.

"Kelly was looking for a big fight, and there was nobody around that qualified as a big fight," said Pavlik's promoter, Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum. "Even though we're not thrilled about fighting at 170 pounds, [Hopkins] was the only alternative."

Arum admits he investigated other possibilities, most notably a unification matchup with IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (27-0, 22 KOs). That was a no-go, as were attempts to bring WBO middleweight champ Paul Williams (34-1, 25 KOs) on board.

With Winky Wright, Marco Antonio Rubio, Randy Griffin and Sergio Mora either unavailable or lacking marquee value, Arum and Pavlik had no choice but to seek out Hopkins.

"Kelly realizes that since Hopkins has given everyone else trouble, that if Kelly disposes of him and knocks him out, it will be a feather in Kelly's cap," Arum said.

Hopkins had never been stopped in his 20-year professional career, which includes a middleweight record 20 consecutive title defenses.

Before his bout with Calzaghe, 36, Hopkins said he was through fighting young, rising stars like, presumably, Pavlik. "I'm not going in there dancing with no guys 24 or 25 years old," he said. "I don't pick on nobody unless they're 35 and up." *