GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Kelly Pavlik has a very simple plan to make up for a disastrous 2009: Take on the most dangerous opponent available in his first fight of 2010.

The middleweight champ will attempt to defend his title against THE RING’s No. 1-rated junior middleweight Sergio Martinez in an HBO-televised bout on April 17.

The fight will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., where Martinez (44-2-2, 24 knockouts) engaged Paul Williams in a thrilling Fight of the Year candidate in December. Martinez dropped a majority decision but many observers believed the athletic southpaw from Argentina deserved the nod.

Pavlik (36-1, 32 KOs) is one of those observers.

“I had Martinez up by two rounds,” Pavlik told boxing writers at a Saturday morning press conference for the Martinez fight held at the Gaylord Texan Convention Center, the host hotel site for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight. “He was impressive. He showed me that he’s got skill, intelligence and a lot of balls. I know I’ve got a tough fight with him. He’s going to be there for all 12 rounds and he’s not going to back down.”

Everyone agrees that Pavlik-Martinez is going to be a good fight. More than a few believe that Martinez’s hand speed, considerable power and stick-and-move style will be too much for Pavlik, which is why the champ wanted the fight.

“I’m excited about this fight,” he said. “I took a lot of criticism in 2009 and this is my way of showing everyone that I’ll fight anyone who’s at the top. I took this fight with no doubts or hesitation because I want to prove that I’m back.”

Pavlik had a bad year in 2009 by most accounts and his own admission.

He had hoped to rebound from the first loss of his career, a one-sided decision to Bernard Hopkins in October of 2008, but most of the year was spent trying to recover from a recurring staph infection in his left hand.

The infection lead to near-death experience when he had a severe allergic reaction to an antibiotic, and it caused him to pullout of two fights, scheduled on Oct. 3 and Dec. 5, with Williams. Pavlik’s reputation nose dived in 2009 amid rumors of problem drinking and two low-profile fights against lesser opponents on small pay-per-view shows.

But what hurt him the most were accusations that he was afraid to fight Williams.

Pavlik, who has already begun training and looks fit at 176 pounds, believes a convincing victory against Martinez will erase most of the doubt that fans and some members of the media have about him.

“I think Martinez is a more dangerous fight for me than Williams would be,” he said. “Williams is a volume puncher. He throws five and six shots at a time and leaves himself open when he does it. Martinez is awkward and he moves and punches from different angles. He dropped Williams because he landed a punch that Williams didn’t see.”

Martinez said that he will do the same thing to Pavlik, and he plans to keep the champ on the canvas when he does so.

“Pavlik will make for a great fight, like Williams,” he said through his manager Sampson Lewkowicz. “But I’ll be much better this time and I will win by knockout.”

One can’t blame Martinez for wanting to take the outcome of the fight out of the hands of the officials. Prior to dropping the disputed decision in December (one of the judges tallied a ludicrous 119-110 for Williams), Martinez was held to a controversial draw against Kermit Cintron in a bout that nearly everyone thought he not only won on points but deserved to win by knockout.

Martinez decked Cintron for the count in the seventh round but the former welterweight titleholder somehow convinced the referee that he was dropped by a head butt and the fight resumed after it was seemingly waved off.

Martinez’s promoter, Lou DiBella, has stood by his fighter throughout the hardships of 2009. Despite the crummy scorecards and officiating, he knows that fans have begun to recognize Martinez’s talent.

“My guy’s a beast,” he said at the press conference. “He should be 2-0 in his last two fights. He should be fighting at junior middleweight but nobody wants to fight him at 154 pounds. Frankly, he’s the biggest threat to Kelly at middleweight.”

Pavlik’s promoter Bob Arum said Martinez reminded him of Argentina’s late, great middleweight champ Carlos Monzon, who he promoted in the 1970s.

DiBella believes Martinez is the best fighter from Argentina since Monzon.

Pavlik’s trainer Jack Lowe isn’t buying it.

“He’s not Carlos Monzon, and on April 17, Lou DiBella will be 0-3 versus Team Pavlik,” Lowe said, referencing Pavlik’s back-to-back victories over former champ Jermain Taylor, who was promoted by DiBella.

Pavlik is somewhere in the middle. He agrees that Martinez is probably his biggest threat but he doesn’t see an invincible fighter.

“There are ways to cut the ring off on movers and ways to move a southpaw into your punches, and I’m going to do that,” he said. “It’s a tough fight because of his style but I’ve noticed that in the middle rounds and later in the fight he does get a little bit winded because of all of his movement. That’s something we’re preparing for.”

Pavlik is also preparing to make up for lost time.

“The plan is to beat Martinez convincingly and then keep fighting top fighters.”

RANDY TURPIN

Birthdate: June 7, 1928
Birthplace: Leamington, England
Date of death: May 17, 1966
Nickname: The Leamington Licker
Weight classes: Middleweight, light heavyweight
Professional record: 66-8-1 (45 knockouts)
Title held: World middleweight (July 10, 1951-Sept. 12, 1951)
Best performances: Ray Robinson (W 15), Don Cockell (KO 1), Charles Humez (W 15), Albert Finch (KO 5), Alex Buxton (KO 7, KO 2, KO 5), George Angelo (W 15), Luc Van Dam (KO 1), Jan du Bruin (KO 6).
Year of IBHOF induction:2001
Background: Followed older brother Dick Turpin into boxing at the age of 9 and had already fought 100 amateur bouts by the time he was 15 … At age 17 he became the youngest ever and first black boxer to win an ABA championship … Turned pro in September 1946 and went undefeated in his first 17 bouts before losses to Albert Finch and Jean Stock in ’48 stalled his progress … Returned after a five-month layoff and racked up 21 straight wins, including knockouts of Finch to win the British middleweight title and Luc Van Dam to capture the vacant European 160-pound crown … Upset Sugar Ray Robinson in July ’51 to win the world middleweight championship via 15-round decision as 18,000 fans whooped it up at Earl’s Court in London … “I have no alibi,” said Robinson. “I was beaten by the better man.” … Contractually obligated to give Robinson a rematch, they fought again two months later in front of a record crowd of 61,370 at the Polo Grounds … The fight was even going into the 10th round, but when Robinson suffered a dangerous eye cut he launches a desperate attack and stopped Turpin with just eight seconds left in the round … Rebounded by winning the vacant British Empire light heavyweight title in a June ’52 bout with Don Cockell and the vacant Empire middleweight title against George Angelo in October … Lost 15-round decision to Bobo Olson in October ’53 for the middleweight world championship, which had become vacant when Robinson retired in December ’52 … Although Turpin regained the British 175-pound title and made two more successful defenses, his powers were fading and he retired after suffering a KO loss to Yolande Pompey in September ’58 … Financial difficulties forced a return in ’63, but after two more fights, he quit for good in ’64 … High living and poor investments had taken all of his boxing money and he briefly turned to wrestling … Also worked in a junkyard and rn a small transport café with his wife … Dunned by the Inland Revenue for unpaid taxes and depressed at his fall from grace, the 37-year-old Turpin committed suicide by gunshot in 1966 … Fifth years after his victory over Robinson, a statue in his honor was erected in Warwick.

DALLAS – Freddie Roach and Lenny DeJesus, the trainers of Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey, are quite familiar with one another.

DeJesus, a longtime cornerman from the Bronx, worked as Pacquiao’s cut man for six fights. And, by all accounts, he’s pretty good at it.

What Roach didn’t know is that DeJesus has had some experience as a lead trainer. Thus, he was surprised when he heard that his fighter’s former cut man would train Joshua Clottey for their fight on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium.

“He worked as our cut man for a while when we were with (promoter) Murad Muhammad,” Roach said. “When we got rid of Muhammad, we got rid of him also because he was part of Muhammad’s camp. He wasn’t too happy about that. He made some statements about me back then. Maybe I hurt his feelings or something like that. I didn’t take it personally.

“Lenny’s not a bad guy. I know him more as a cut man than as a trainer. I don’t know him as a trainer at all. … He’s been around the game a lot, a cut man for a lot of big fights. He’s been around fighters. I’m sure he hears things. But does he really know boxing? I don’t know.”

Did Roach think it was weird when he heard DeJesus would be working the opposite corner.

“Uh … yeah,” he said.

DeJesus didn’t have much to say about Roach, other than to demonstrate that he’s been in the game – in a variety of capacities – a lot longer than the world’s top trainer.

“When Freddie Roach was working with Eddie Futch, I was already a 10-round cornerman,” DeJesus said. “I had a kid from Puerto Rico, Alberto Mercado, fighting in Las Vegas. That was more than 20 years ago. Freddie was a bucket boy for that fight.”

Roach has come a long way. And so has DeJesus, apparently. The former amateur boxer has worked in some big fights as an assistant trainer but he has never been the lead man in a fight this big.

“It’s a good feeling,” he said. “I know if we beat him, if we upset Manny Pacquiao, I’ll get a lot of calls from people interested in my services. That’s very good at this stage, at my age.”

DeJesus is 64.

Trouble brewing?: DeJesus said his fighter should do fine against Pacquiao if two things happen: Clottey listens to DeJesus in the corner and the Ghanian fighter’s other handlers keep their mouths shut.

Those are strange ifs going into the biggest fight of Clottey’s career.

DeJesus was a late replacement as Clottey’s main cornerman because his first choice, former trainer Godwin Kotey, couldn’t get a visa to enter the United States. Still, one would think that DeJesus would have full control in the corner.

On the first point, DeJesus is confident his fighter will follow his instructions even though he was the one who brought it into question.

“When you have a good, motivating corner, your individual will listen,” he said.

He didn’t sound as convincing in regard to whether he could control the cornermen Clottey brought with him from New York, who seem to be friends as much as they are boxing people.

“He has his group,” DeJesus said of the men. “In this case, there aren’t too many people there. I told them, ‘You holler and you’re out. I’m the one who calls the shots.’”

For Clottey’s sake, he’d better be.

Numbers game: If punch output decides fights, Pacquiao has a significant edge on Clottey.

Pacquiao has thrown an average of 67.8 punches per round in his last three fights, which have lifted him to superstar status. The average number of punches thrown per round by a welterweight is 58.0.

And he has landed a remarkable 53.7 percent of the power punches he’s thrown, or 24.4 per round. The average number of power punches landed by a welterweight is 13.3 per round.

Clottey has thrown an average of 42.7 punchers per round – about 25 fewer than Pacquiao – in his last nine fights. And he has landed 41.0 percent of his power punches, almost 16 fewer than Pacquiao.

The Ghanian, known as a very good defensive fighter, has been able to avoid 78.8 percent of the punches his opponents have thrown.

Party passes: Top Rank Boxing and Cowboys Stadium have announced the sale of standing-room-only tickets for $35. They’re available through TicketMaster.

Party-pass ticket holders will have access to pre-fight festivities in the plazas outside the stadium and six party decks in the end zones of the building.

DALLAS, Texas -- Filipino flyweight prospect Richie Mepranum spoiled the U.S. debut of Mexico’s popular Hernan Marquez on Friday, out-pointing the undefeated junior bantamweight standout in the 10-round main event of a Fox Sports Net-televised card at the Gaylord Texan Convention center, the host hotel site of the Manny Pacquiao-Clottey fight.

Mepranum (17-2-1, 3 knockouts), who won by scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 96-94, stuck and moved efficiently against the aggressive but less accurate Marquez (27-1, 20 KOs).

In the co-featured bout, former heavyweight titleholder Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KOs) looked sharp dispatching rangy prospect Nagy Aguliera (15-3, 10 KOs) in two rounds in an elimination bout for one of the belts.

Peter, who weighed in at 237½ pounds for the fight -- his lightest in nine years -- was fast and devastating, dropping Aguliera with a body shot early in the second round before overwhelming the 23-year-old former amateur standout against the ropes.

In the non-televised opening bout of the Top Rank-promoted show
Anthony Peterson (30-0, 20 KOs) , THE RING’s No. 6-rated lightweight, dominated the shopworn Juan Ramon Cruz (16-7-1, 12 KOs) to a third-round KO. Peterson dropped Cruz once in the second round and twice in the third.

Welterweight fringe contender Dennis Laurante (34-3-4, 17 KOs), a Filipino southpaw who is managed by Pacquiao, narrowly outboxed the badly faded but still very game veteran Ben Tackie (29-12-1, 17 KOs) over eight rounds. Lautante won by scores of 78-74 and 77-75 (twice). Some members of the media believed Tackie deserved the nod.

Undefeated junior middleweight prospect Omar Henry (8-0, 7 KOs) demolished Mexico’s Francisco Reza (5-2, 4 KOs) 33 seconds into the opening round of their scheduled six rounder.

Heavyweight prospect Andy Ruiz (3-0, 3 KOs) had an easy time stopping hapless Luke Vaughn (0-2) in the first round of the their scheduled four rounder.

DALLAS – Freddie Roach, the trainer of Manny Pacquiao, said he has worked with two fighters who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs but takes precautions so it won’t creep into his gym in Hollywood, Calif.

Roach said one of his former fighters, Justin Fortune, was known to have used PEDs and James Toney twice tested positive for steroids, once when he was working with Roach.

“I won’t say I didn’t know,” said Roach, referring to Toney. “I never asked him, though. I never had a conversation. I could see his body structure had signs, his traps and stuff. He was either lifting a lot of weight or he was on (something).

“… I think I had one other fighter on steroids also, Justin Fortune. … I know he’d been there before.”

Roach repeated for the umpteenth time, however, that Pacquiao is clean. He said he talked to Pacquiao after unsubstantiated allegations by Floyd Mayweather Sr. and others became public.

“I said, ‘Manny, do you know what steroids are?’” Roach said. “He knows so little about steroids. He knows less than I do.”

Is there a chance Pacquiao took an illegal substance by accident, perhaps consuming something with which he was unfamiliar?

“Why would you think that?” he said. “Manny gets tested after every fight and has never come up dirty. Without evidence, that’s a bad assumption.”

Roach also has discussed PEDs with strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who works with Pacquiao.

“A hundred percent,” he said. “That’s the first guy I went to. … Alex is a friend of mine and he works with me. My reputation is on the line with him. He assures me 100 percent that there’s nothing out there.”

Pacquiao fights Joshua Clottey on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.