By Robert Morales

Joe Calzaghe was introduced to fans and the media prior to the recent Los Angeles news conference promoting the May 1 welterweight fight between "Sugar" Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It made one wonder if that meant Golden Boy Promotions - which played host that day - was considering signing Calzaghe to a promotional contract.

Calzaghe, of course, is retired. But he is just 38 and since he was still very good when he retired undefeated at the top of his game following his November 2008 victory over Roy Jones Jr., it seems well within the realm of possibility he could come back for another fight or two.

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, was asked Tuesday to address the company's association with Calzaghe as well as the possibility he could return.

"We have had a good relationship with Joe for quite a while and, basically, what we want is to make sure if he decides to come back - and he has not announced that - he has an open door with Golden Boy," Schaefer said to BoxingScene.com. "If he does come back, I would hope that Golden Boy is going to be involved with him."

Schaefer said the recent news about Calzaghe using cocaine would not deter Golden Boy from signing him. 

"I haven't talked to him about that yet and I have read those stories," Schaefer said. "I am going to talk to Joe next week because I think that if Bernard (Hopkins) would win (Saturday against Jones), that fight here in Vegas (between Hopkins and Calzaghe) was a bit controversial and I think a rematch between Bernard and Calzaghe would be something I could envision.

"Again, I plan on talking to Joe next week to see what's up and to discuss with him as well those (cocaine) revelations, which I read about."

Calzaghe was decked by Hopkins in the first round, but went on to win a split decision in their fight in April 2008 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Interestingly, the 45-year-old Hopkins has said he would like to fight the winner of Saturday's heavyweight title fight between David Haye and John Ruiz. Since Ruiz is Haye's mandatory, Schaefer said there is no rematch clause in their contract. That would clear the way for Hopkins. But from the sound of it, neither is all that interested in fighting Hopkins.

Golden Boy also promotes Haye and Ruiz.

"I'm not sure they would want to fight Hopkins or not," Schaefer said. "I haven't had any discussions (in that regard). Haye and Ruiz both have expressed who would be on their hit list and that would be one of the Klitschkos."

Schaefer didn't rule anything out, however.

"It's good that you have alternatives and that you are not just negotiating with one party, but multiple parties," he said. 

Roach: Khan Not Ducking Anyone

Freddie Roach has never had the reputation as a trainer who looks to get his fighters the softest opponent available, so the idea that he is trying to do that with junior welterweight champion Amir Khan is simply not true, Roach said Wednesday during an interview from his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif.

In a division that includes the likes of Marcos Maidana, Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander, Khan will be taking on light-hitting Paulie Malignaggi on May 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It will be the first U.S. start for England's Khan, who has fought exclusively in the United Kingdom.

"The thing is the fight we wanted for his first fight in America, we thought we had a deal with (Juan Manuel) Marquez," Roach said. "That wasn't an easy guy, but Marquez turned us down. (Marquez trainer) Nacho Beristain felt he was being used as a steppingstone with Amir. I see it differently. I see it as we were giving Marquez
the chance to be the first Mexican to win titles in four weight classes. That is not an easy opponent. 

"Is Maidana a better puncher? Probably, yes. But is he a better fighter? No, not in my opinion. We were going after a tough guy and then HBO made an offer for Paulie Malignaggi when the deal fell apart for the fight with Marquez."

Roach said that like Khan, fighters like Bradley, Alexander and Maidana have their own building up to do here in the States in order for a title unification fight with one of those three to bear monetary fruit. Which makes sense. Bradley and Alexander are from the U.S., but they are not quite household names. Bradley is getting there, Alexander is moving in that direction and Argentina's Maidana has only recently become a somewhat-known commodity. 

"To fight the tough, tough fight for a little money would be foolish," Roach said. "We are going to have to fight the others and we are ready for that."

Roach wants Maidana for Khan soon.

"I want Maidana next because I know we can out-box him," Roach said. "(Andriy) Kotelnik out-boxed him and we killed Kotelnik." 

Maidana lost a split decision to Kotelnik in February 2009 in Kotelnik's native Germany. Khan won a very wide decision over Kotelnik last July in England.

Besides, Roach said, it's not like Malignaggi is chopped liver, his reputation as a light-hitter notwithstanding. 

"I don't see that as ducking with his first fight here against Paulie," Roach said. "He's a world champion. How much tougher was he supposed to go against?"

Roach did agree that of the four - Bradley, Alexander, Maidana and Malignaggi - Malignaggi seems to be the easiest opponent. 

"But he is a champion," Roach reiterated.

Malignaggi is not a world champion anymore, but only because he relinquished his belt ahead of his November 2008 fight with Ricky Hatton. Malignaggi showed in his two fights against Juan Diaz that he is a tough nut to crack. He lost a controversial unanimous decision to Diaz last August, then came back and won a unanimous decision over Diaz in December. 

Khan Has Pacquiao Work Ethic

Roach said that not only is the 5-foot-10 Khan a terrific athlete, he is very devoted to his craft.

"He has Pacquiao-like dedication," said Roach, who changed Manny Pacquiao from a wild-swinging brawler to a refined power boxer. 

Roach took over in Khan's corner after Khan (22-1, 16 KOs) suffered his only loss, a first-round knockout at the hands of Breidis Prescott in September 2008 in England. Khan is 4-0 with two knockouts under Roach's guidance. In their third fight together, Khan won his junior welterweight world title with the aforementioned victory over Kotelnik.

Roach said that when he took over, he noticed Khan still had some amateurish tendencies that had to go. Roach said the reason Khan got knocked out by Prescott is because his former handlers had him on a weight-training program designed to build upper body strength.  

"He was looking for knockouts and he got caught doing that," Roach said.

Roach said his plan has been to take some of the weight off Khan's upper body and move it down to his legs.

"I think the weights slowed him down a little bit and his best asset is his speed," Roach said. "He has great speed. We're not just working on one thing, we're working on his whole game and changing him to a complete fighter. He is in a really tough division right now. Good punchers, good boxers. He needs to get better and better because the opposition is going to be stiff.

"The thing about Amir is, he learns quickly, responds very quickly. He is a very good student." 

Just like Pacquiao.

Bradley Was One Who Wanted Khan

Bradley, who has one of the four junior welterweight belts, is co-promoted by Gary Shaw Productions and Thompson Boxing Promotions. Alex Camponovo, matchmaker and general manager of Thompson Boxing, said one of the reasons why Bradley is fighting a welterweight in Luis Carlos Abregu on June 19 in Rancho Mirage, Calif., is because some of the other 140-pound stars did not step up to the plate.

"Nobody at 140 wanted to fight, nobody of name," Camponovo said Wednesday. "We wanted to go after Khan. We opened the door for Timothy to fight Pacquiao when the Mayweather fight did not go through and they said no. Maidana said no. Victor Ortiz said no. All the guys that were a meaningful match for him passed.

"Then we had the opportunity to move to HBO and they wanted to do the Abregu fight. We thought it was a good opportunity for him to move to 147 and give him a little more latitude, see if he wants to stay."

Camponovo said Bradley does plan on moving back down to defend his title. As for Khan, Camponovo said he thought a deal was in place last year for a fight against the Brit, but Camponovo said all changed when Khan changed promoters.

"We had an agreement with Frank Warren and we had a date and then Amir Khan decided to severe ties with Frank Warren and he made a move with Golden Boy," Camponovo said. "And that killed the deal." 

Mora on Forrest

Former junior middleweight champion Sergio Mora, who will fight Calvin Green on Saturday's Hopkins-Jones undercard in Las Vegas, was asked Monday about the untimely shooting death of Vernon Forrest last July. Mora and Forrest tangled twice in 2008. Mora took Forrest's title via majority decision in June of that year. Forrest took it
back three months later via unanimous decision.

Just more than 10 months later, Forrest was gunned down by a man who had robbed Forrest when he stopped at a gas station in Atlanta. 

"I woke up in the morning and I had about 38 text messages and phone calls," Mora said at his training camp in Montebello, Calif.

"And when I read the first one, it just hit me like, 'Wow,' like, 'How does that happen?' And then once I started getting the details about it, in a weird way, it was kind of like ... it was an honor and somewhat kind of like, 'Man, Vernon, even with a guy with a gun, he's still going to chase after him.'

"That shows you the type of character and guts this man had. Because, how do you chase a man with a gun? I would get robbed for my shoes and go home naked. I wouldn't run after anybody. That's the character of a man. And it made me proud to go 24 rounds with someone like him because it shows you what type of person and fighter he was outside the ring."

Perez Managed by Mares' Father

Yonnhy Perez will defend his bantamweight title against Abner Mares on May 22 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. It will be the main undercard bout to the fourth fight between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez.

Perez and Mares met and became friends during their amateur days. What's intriguing is that Perez is actually co-managed by Mares' father, Ismael.

"I kind of helped him out to get to where he's at right now," said Mares, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Montebello. "In the amateurs we met and we became really good friends. He knew that I lived here in the States and he asked if I knew anyone, as far as managers, who could help him out here in the States.

"So I did. I connected with him and I got him here. As a matter of fact, a lot of people don't know, but my dad manages Yonnhy Perez. I'm not saying I'm the reason why he became champion." 

Like Bradley, Perez is co-promoted by Shaw and Thompson Boxing. Camponovo said Perez is indeed managed by Ismael Mares as well as Mike Vital, but that the three haven't spoken in nearly two years.

Camponovo didn't go into detail, but he said Perez has been at odds with his co-managers regarding his career and that the three have been embroiled in arbitration for some time. Camponovo said he believes that managerial contract is up somewhere around June.

Perez was born and raised in Colombia and all of his family is there. But he lives in Santa Fe Springs - just down the road from Montebello - with his trainer, Danny Zamora, during training.

Robert Morales covers boxing for the Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram and BoxingScene.com