If it’s not Joe (Calzaghe), it may be Roy (Jones Jr.)

By Joe Scalzo

Kelly Pavlik may not mind fighting in Wales, but would he move up a weight class so soon?

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Throughout his boxing career, Kelly Pavlik has said he’ll fight anyone, anywhere, although he probably said it most colorfully last May after beating Edison Miranda in Memphis.

“Show me the money,” Pavlik said. “I’ll fight anybody, Godzilla, Bob Dole, Joe Bob ...”

A win Saturday raises the possibility of a bout with a different Joe — Calzaghe. A loss probably eliminates it, at least in the near future.

Pavlik’s promoter, Bob Arum, rode down from New York to Atlantic City with Calzaghe’s promoter, Frank Warren, on Wednesday. Warren also promotes Saturday’s opponent, Gary Lockett, who is trained by Calzaghe’s father, Enzo.

“If he beats Lockett, then our first priority is, if we can make a fight against Calzaghe,” Arum said Friday. “I don’t know if we can do it or not do it, but I ... think it’s a real possibility.

“That’s the fight I would like to make.”

A Pavlik-Calzaghe fight would be held in Las Vegas at super middleweight and would be on pay-per-view, Arum said. Pavlik fights at the 160-pound middleweight limit now, but plans to move up to super middleweight in a year or two anyway.

“I think that would do the best business,” Arum said. “Not as big of a gate as in Wales [Calzaghe’s home country], but the pay-per-view would be a lot bigger.”

When asked if Pavlik would fight in Wales, Arum said, “That would be up to Kelly and his father [co-manager Mike Pavlik Sr.] and Cameron [Dunkin, his other co-manager]. I haven’t discussed that yet.

“My theory is, the ring is the same. And Kelly’s not going to be influenced one way or the other by the fans cheering for the other guy.”

Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs), who recently beat Bernard Hopkins at light heavyweight (175 pounds), has said he doesn’t want to return to the 168-pound super middleweight limit. It seems unlikely he’d fight Pavlik, at least this year, and the most likely scenario involves him fighting Roy Jones Jr., which would be just as lucrative and a lot less risky. Calzaghe is 36, which may add some urgency to getting a Pavlik fight done, but Duncan doesn’t buy it.

“Everybody is in a rush to get that fight done,” he said. “Let Kelly fight at 160 and it’ll happen on its own.”

If the Calzaghe fight doesn’t happen, there are several possibilities. One is a fight in Ohio (most likely Cleveland), which the Pavliks want. Another is a middleweight title unification bout against either Arthur Abraham (who holds the IBF belt) or Felix Sturm (WBA).

Problem is, neither Abraham or Sturm seem inclined to fight outside Germany — unless they get big money. Abraham is fighting Edison Miranda later this month, but neither he nor Sturm has much name recognition in the U.S.

“Both those guys are gonna want a lot more money and all the sudden Kelly makes less money and Kelly has to pay sanctioning fees on another title,” Dunkin said. “I’m not making excuses because Kelly wants to fight everybody. Kelly is open to anything, anywhere, anytime. Always has been.

“But from a business standpoint, you have to weigh everything.”

Another option is Irishman John Duddy, who was supposed to fight Pavlik on Saturday before suffering cuts in a lackluster win in February. That fight would have been held at Madison Square Garden, an option that Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew, would love. If none of those happen, Pavlik could fight a top contender such as Giovanni Lorenzo (the WBC’s No. 1 contender), Marco Antonio Rubio (WBC’s No. 3) or junior middleweight Ricardo Mayorga.

“What I’m trying to do is find an opponent that’s credible and that TV will buy,” said Dunkin. “If he gets a chance to unify the belts, he would take it.

“It’s boxing. You never know what’s going to happen. You never know when the phone is going to ring and things are going to completely change.”

Pavlik has said repeatedly he wants to fight in Ohio, preferably Youngstown, as soon as possible. There are two problems with Youngstown — the location and the weather. Arum is very reluctant to fight outdoors at, say, Stambaugh Stadium and Pavlik’s handlers feel the Chevrolet Centre (which would hold about 6,000) is too small to make the tickets affordable.

Arum got a lukewarm reception from the Browns about fighting in Cleveland Browns Stadium this fall, which would make Quicken Loans Arena the most likely spot, at least for now.

“I’ve got to get him back before the end of the year to fight in Ohio,” said Arum.

Dunkin has been pushing for an Ohio fight for months, both to satisfy Pavlik and to reward his fans, who have traveled in droves twice to Atlantic City and once to Las Vegas over the last year.

“Kelly really wants a chance to give back to his people,” Dunkin said. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”

scalzo@vindy.com