Pavlik, Calzaghe fight next?

By Joe Scalzo

It is still in the talking stages, but the Pavlik camp would like to see it happen.

YOUNGSTOWN — Although Kelly Pavlik plans to stay at middleweight for at least a few more fights, his trainer, Jack Loew, said they’re open to moving up a weight class to fight Joe Calzaghe.

“That’s the only reason we would go, to fight Joe Calzaghe,” Loew said. “That would be a huge, huge event.

“We’re not going to move up to super middleweight to fight Humpty Dumpty.”

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, whose company promotes Pavlik, told Yahoo! Wednesday that he’s been in discussions with Calzaghe’s promoter, Frank Warren, about a Calzaghe-Pavlik fight in November.

Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) holds the super middleweight and light heavyweight titles, while Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs) is the WBC and WBA middleweight champion. The talks are preliminary and Loew said neither he nor Pavlik have been involved in discussions.

“You always talk about that in the gym, but we’ve never been offered anything and nobody’s ever said anything to us,” Loew said. “But I think it’s inevitable. Whether it’s gonna happen this year, I don’t know.”

Pavlik’s co-manager, Cameron Dunkin, has talked with Pavlik and his father, co-manager Mike Pavlik Sr., and said both are open to it.

“They like the fight,” Dunkin said. “Kelly will fight anybody, anywhere, anytime.

“It just depends on the circumstances. Who, what, when, where and how much?”

The fight seems to make sense for both fighters, who are both running out of high-profile challengers. Warren promotes both Calzaghe and Lockett, and Calzaghe’s father, Enzo, trains both.

Pavlik had been mentioned as a possible opponent for Irishman John Duddy until Duddy sustained severe cuts in a lackluster win over Walid Smichet in February. Another possible Pavlik opponent, Top Rank’s Andy Lee, was upset by Brian Vera in March.

“There’s nobody at middleweight that anyone has heard of,” Dunkin said. “It’s a tough situation. The minute we announced Lockett, I was bombarded with people saying, ‘Who?’ ”

Loew mentioned Duddy, Winky Wright and Arthur Abraham as possible opponents, but admitted he’s not sure who would be the best pick.

“Who knows?” he said. “Maybe we’ll beat Joe Calzaghe twice and make enough money that we’ll never have to fight again.”

The 36-year-old Calzaghe is coming off a split decision over 43-year-old Bernard Hopkins in April and has been mentioned as a possible opponent for 39-year-old Roy Jones Jr.

Because of Calzaghe’s age — he’s said he doesn’t want to fight much longer — there might be some urgency to do it this year, but Dunkin doesn’t buy that.

“I think he’ll be there for a while,” said Dunkin. “He said he was going to retire before Hopkins. I think those guys are always going to be around for the big payday. He’s not going anywhere.”

Dunkin said his main emphasis for Pavlik is getting a September fight in Ohio, preferably in Youngstown (where it could be fought outdoors) or in Cleveland.

“I really want to see him fight in Ohio,” he said. “Then people don’t have to go and buy rooms and drive 1,100-1,200 miles when gas is $4 a gallon.

“People in Youngstown love Kelly to death. We know that. If we did it in Ohio, we’d try to have $20, $25, $30-type tickets. It’d be fantastic.”

A September fight would still leave time for Calzaghe in 2008. Calzaghe would probably be favored against Pavlik — just don’t try telling that to Loew.

“Who has Calzaghe faced?” he said. “He beat a 43-year-old man [Hopkins]. He beat Mikkel Kessler, who I thought was a decent fighter. He beat Jeff Lacy and it was just a matter of time before someone exposed Jeff Lacy.

“He’s got a lot of wins, but he hasn’t fought anybody great.”

scalzo@vindy.com