Calzaghe: "Jermain Taylor is The Fight I Want"

By Mark Vester

It appears that WBO/IBF super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe is changing his tune with respect to his preferred mega-bout opponent.

In a recent interview with UK scribe Steve Bunce, Calzaghe indicated that for his next bout, he would like to fight the now retired Bernard Hopkins, middleweight champion Jermain Taylor or WBC/WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler.

Shakur vs Teofimo, Why Winning as the Underdog Is a BIG Deal Paulie & Algieri Break Down BIG FIGHT

In this episode, Paulie Malignaggi and Chris Algieri break down why winning as the underdog in a fight like this is such a big deal — not just for rankings, but for momentum, perception, and long-term stardom.

Saturday | Jan 31, 2026

But, if he had a choice between the three, Taylor would be the man he wants most. For the last couple of weeks, Calzaghe has been calling out Bernard Hopkins. After it became clear that Hopkins would not come out of retirement to fight him, he appears to have set his sights on a fight that has a much better probability of actually taking place.

"Mikkel Kessler, Jermain Taylor or Bernard Hopkins. All three would be great fights. Kessler holds a couple of super-middleweight world titles and everybody keeps telling me how good he is. Hopkins is a big name in America and he was the middleweight champion for 10 years. But, I think it would have to be Taylor because he beat Hopkins. That would be the fight," Calzaghe said.