By Mark Vester
Mark Taffet, senior vice-president of sports operations and pay-per-view for HBO Sports, spoke with Graham Shaw about the probability of Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe coming off in 2008. Taffet commented on how the fight with Hopkins can take Calzaghe's popularity to another level.
"Joe Calzaghe had a major coming out in 2007 with respect to the US fans. He's clearly recognized here as one of the top few fighters in the world now P4P, there's no doubt about it. His fight with Mikkel Kessler was a true major event in the US on television - there was a lot of buzz and media attention paid to it. And Joe is ready to take the next step and become one of the major forces in the sport, provided that the best fight the best as we saw in 07," Taffet said.
"For Joe there are a number of fights out there, but clearly Calzaghe against Hopkins would be a major event in the sport in every country around the world. It's a great fight, a great US PPV fight. Clearly we know it's a megafight overseas. Just like Ricky's exposure against Mayweather took him to another level, as big as Joe is fighting the likes of Bernard Hopkins after fighting someone like Kessler provides another platform for Joe to go to the next level. We're excited if that fight takes place. We're looking forward to see if the deal can be finalized between the promoters. It's a highly-anticipated match and I hope matches like that continue to get made."
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingscene@hotmail.com
