By Eric Thomas: In the latest boxing news, various internet boxing forums are talking about the possibility that undefeated WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) could be facing undefeated WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs) in the near future, but only if Pavlik can get by his next opponent Gary Lockett, whom he fights on June 7th, at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Personally, I think the news is nothing but a bunch of hogwash, because Calzaghe, 36, is likely not about to face his toughest opponent out there before picking off his scrape opponents, like Roy Jones Jr., who Calzaghe has been reported to be very interested in fighting next.

To me, the Pavlik news is nothing more than a bargaining tool, so as to get the 39 year-old Jones to the table at a lower price than what he could ask for if there were other available big-named opponents for Calzaghe. Though I think if push comes to shove, Calaghe would face Pavlik next rather than Jones, but that would only be after they had exhausted every attempt at making the Jones fight work first.

As strange as it may seem, the Jones fight will likely bring in more money than the Pavlik fight, namely because Jones is a household name with many part-time fans, whereas Pavlik is kind of like the new kid on the block, the one refereed to sometimes by casual fans as “that skinny fighter from Ohio.” I imagine that Calzaghe would probably much rather face the de-fanged Jones rather than a still very much alive and dangerous Pavlik, who’d have a good chance of beating the 36 year-old Calzaghe.

Already, Calzaghe is showing signs of slipping, having won his last fight by a 12-round split decision over Bernard Hopkins on April 19th. Hopkins appeared to have done more than enough to win the fight, landing the harder shots and controlling the fight with his expert boxing skills. Not only did Hopkins knock Calzaghe down, he also looked to be the better overall fighter, showing more poise and skill than the Welsh fighter by a long shot.

Based on what I saw of Calzaghe against Hopkins, I think he really needs to make every effort he can to line up the fight with Jones next rather than Pavlik. Believe me, it’s the smarter move because Pavlik will still be there once Jones is out of the way. In the case of Jones, you really can’t say that because he wants a big money fight awful bad, and he’ll likely take on the first fighter that comes along that is somewhat popular. What’s bad about that, unfortunately, is that Jones’ skills are so eroded at this point in his career, almost any top fighter that is fairly decent has a good chance at beating him.

As for most top fighter, there’s no question they would soundly beat Jones. This is why Calzaghe needs to do what he has to do to make the Jones fight happen. Pavlik would be too dangerous for Calzaghe, and would likely knock him down a couple of times in the process of beating him. I think the judges’ gave Calzaghe the benefit of the doubt this time against Hopkins, but they’re not about to give him two consecutive gift decisions unless he earns the victory.

I’m afraid that Calzaghe’s slapping offensive style would be no match for the crushing power of Pavlik, who wouldn’t resort to a lot of the clinching that Hopkins sometimes did. It would be pure firepower coming from Pavlik from the 1st round until the 12th, and Calzaghe would be no match for him. Like I said, though, I don’t think Calzaghe is serious about wanting to fight Pavlik right now, and is using this as a bargaining tool to get Jones to come in at a cheap price.