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Joe's dream fight awaits
By David Smith, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 19.02.04A clash between boxing giants Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins may no longer be a 'dead issue'.
That was the phrase used by Calzaghe's promoter Frank Warren to describe negotiations with Hopkins after the American rejected a £1.4million offer to fight the unbeaten Welshman.
But as Calzaghe prepared to defend the WBO super-middleweight title against Armenian mouthful Mger Mkrtchian in Cardiff on Saturday, it can be revealed there still may be signs of life in talks with Hopkins, who is regarded second only to Roy Jones as the sport's best pound-for-pound fighter.
The undisputed world middleweight champion insisted: 'The door is open to them.'
What is in dispute, according to Hopkins, is the distribution of lucrative income from payperview television subscriptions.
With an option to fight Oscar de la Hoya on the table, he said: 'I am not desperate by any means and I will not jump at the first bone that comes my way. I would be a fool to leave what I feel is millions of dollars of revenue in the pay-per-view pot.'
A deal, if it can be done, would almost certainly mean Calzaghe having to conquer his fear of flying in order to take on Hopkins in the United States.
But the 31-year-old, who is undefeated after 36 contests and established as Britain's senior champion following the retirement of Lennox Lewis, is desperate for a career-defining fight.
He said: 'I don't want to be retired at home knowing I never got the opportunity to go to the States and really prove myself.
'It wouldn't undermine what I've already done but I've always aspired to be the best and it's time I really proved that I am. The United Kingdom knows that but the rest of the world also needs to know it.
'Lennox did it in America, Naseem Hamed gave it a go, now I realise it's now or never for me. I've got the personality and the style to make an impact.
'I'm certainly at my peak, so I need that defining fight and it has to be in America. I want to know how good I am. That means the best against the best.' Should talks with Hopkins fail, Calzaghe will move to lightheavyweight, with Warren seeking a match against IBF champion Glencoffe Johnson.
The Miami-based Jamaican outclassed Britain's Clinton Woods earlier this month to claim the vacant IBF title and afterwards said he would entertain a challenge from Calzaghe.
But those grand plans will be worth not a cent, let alone a fistful of dollars, if Mkrtchian springs one of boxing's biggest surprises at the weekend.
The 27-year-old is 10-1 with the bookies, but he has lost just once in 19 fights and has already caused an upset in removing Freeman Barr from his position as the WBO's No1 challenger
He said: 'Barr ignored how dangerous I was and was looking ahead to a title shot at Calzaghe. Now Calzaghe is not concentrating on me. That's a big mistake. Calzaghe will pay the price just like Barr did.'
Meanwhile, Ricky Hatton will face Brazilian Kelson Pinto for the WBO's interim world lightwelterweight title at Manchester's MEN Arena on 3 April.
