In a brief but direct, respectful but confident showdown of trainers, Jack Loew, representing Kelly Pavlik, and Nazim Richardson, from the camp of Bernard Hopkins, both predicted wins for their fighters Saturday night in Atlantic City.

Fighting at a catchweight of 170, Pavlik will move up from his reign at middleweight to fight the former middleweight king, now campaigning at light-heavyweight.

Though a match-up of old vs. new school, experience and youth, the two chief concerns voiced yesterday appear to be Hopkins’ difficult style and Pavlik’s big punching power.

“I know the kid is talented,” said Richardson. “But this is not the first time we’ve looked at Kelly Pavlik in the ring. Given Bernard Hopkins’ instinct and mentality as a fighter, he has seen so many styles, and he bears witness to so many aspects of this sport.”

Richardson said that Pavlik’s right hand kayo punch is not a concern.

“If you want to kill me and I don’t know you have a gun, it’s gonna be an easy thing to blow my brains out. But if I know it’s there, it’s a different story.”

To illustrate his point, Richardson points to the rematch between Pavlik and Jermain Taylor, who was brutally KO’d in the original match.

“We’re definitely not looking for a knockout,” said Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew. “We’re prepared for 12 rounds, but if the opportunity arrives, we’ll take it, of course.”

Incidentally, Hopkins has never lost a fight by stoppage.

“We’ll come out for the first few round like we’ll come out for the 12th,” said Loew. “With careful aggressiveness. We fought Jermain Taylor and we took him out, then beat him in a 12-round decision.”

Richardson says that Pavlik may be due for a bit of schooling when he steps into the ring with Hopkins.

“I don’t know their game plan, but one can only assume,” says Richardson. “I think Kelly’s gonna realize that Bernard’s not an easy target who stands in front of you.

“He’s not just fighting an athlete who can box a little, he’ll be fighting a fighter. . . . It’ll be something you’ve never seen before.”

As for game plans, Loew says that there’s not only a “Plan A,” but a “Plan B” and a “Plan C.”

“We’re not concerned about Hopkins running all around, being slick,” says Loew. “We know what a great fighter he is, but we got a whole lot more plans for Hopkins than they think.

“We know, when you fight Bernard Hopkins, you got change things up. You don’t just walk straight at him.”

On the other hand . . . .

“If he has the balls to stand in front of Kelly,” says Loew, “Well, it’s gonna be an early night.”