By Keith Idec

Kelly Pavlik will fight for the second time in four weeks when he opposes Will Rosinsky in a 10-round super middleweight bout Saturday night in Carson, Calif.

The former middleweight champion hasn’t had two fights in such a short amount of time since he was an 18-year-old, fledgling prospect in the fall of 2000, the year Pavlik began his career. Pavlik pounced on this opportunity because it represented an unforeseen shot to get back on HBO (10 p.m. EDT/PDT), but even exposure of that magnitude wouldn’t have been enough incentive if Pavlik, 30, didn’t think his body could handle the quick turnaround after a dominant performance against overmatched Scott Sigmon on June 8 in Las Vegas.

“We came out of the last fight healthy,” said Pavlik, who fought just once apiece in 2010 and 2011 due to injuries, contractual squabbles and personal problems. “There were no bad hands, no sore hands, no cuts, no bruises — I’m healthy. We took a week off, so we’re still fit. It goes back to Rosinsky --- he is doing the same thing and [in an] even shorter period than I am. So I don’t have any problem with it. We’re out here [in Oxnard, Calif.] training. If my hands were sore or tender, I would have thought maybe I shouldn’t take this fight. But I was healthy and I’m ready to go.”

The 27-year-old Rosinsky (16-1, 9 KOs), of Queens, N.Y., accepted the Pavlik fight immediately after defeating Aaron Pryor Jr. (16-6, 11 KOs) by unanimous decision in an eight-rounder June 14 at Roseland Ballroom in New York. He had even less time to recover than Pavlik (39-2, 34 KOs), who took a week off from training after stopping Sigmon (22-4, 12 KOs) in the seventh round of an ESPN2 main event at Hard Rock Hotel Casino.

“The first day [back in training] was a little tough, but I had just flown in and it was my first day in the gym,” Pavlik said. “[Last week] we sparred eight strong rounds and had no problem. … I have been feeling great. Working like a mule.”

The Pavlik-Rosinsky fight will open HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” broadcast from Home Depot Center. Nonito Donaire (28-1, 18 KOs), of San Leandro, Calif., and South Africa’s Jeffrey Mathebula (26-3-2, 14 KOs) will meet in the main event, a 12-round, 122-pound championship unification fight.

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and krikya360.com.