By Mark Vester

Jack Loew, trainer of WBC/WBO middleweight Kelly Pavlik (34-0, 30 KOs), says Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) is running scared from his fighter. Top Rank has been trying to negotiate with Calzaghe's promoter Frank Warren to make the fight. Last week, Calzaghe announced that he was more interested in fighting Roy Jones Jr. He said Pavlik was not a big enough name to become the final opponent of his career.

"What a perfect way to finish my career by fighting one of the greats of this generation," Calzaghe told BBC Radio Wales. "It'll be the fight of my life. I haven't started training yet but once a date is confirmed I'll get back down to business. Fighting the greatest fighter of the 1990s would be the perfect way to finish off my career. But he'll be fighting the greatest fighter of the millennium."

Loew is not buying what he calls "excuses" coming from Calzaghe. He says the Welsh fighter is showing fear.

“How many more excuses is this guy going to make?” Loew told writer Joe Scalzo. “If Joe Calzaghe fought Kelly, he’d be in trouble. There’s no way he’d beat Kelly. He’s just a slap-happy Welshman.”

He doesn't blame Calzaghe, he says Jones is the safer fight. A few weeks ago, Pavlik demolished Calzaghe's stablemate Gary Lockett in Atlantic City. Loew says that Calzaghe's dad/trainer Enzo (who trained Lockett) ran back to Wales and told his son to avoid Pavlik. 

“It’s a smarter fight,” Loew said of Calzaghe-Jones. “This is what happened: His dad went back and said, ‘Don’t fight this killer. He’s gonna knock you out.’ I’m [ticked] off. He’s telling us that we don’t want to fight him. Yes, we do want to fight Joe Calzaghe. He doesn’t want to fight Kelly Pavlik."

Loew says Pavlik's next bout will come to Cleveland and whoever the opponent is - they will receive the same beating as Lockett. 

“Any middleweight who goes into the ring with Kelly over the next few years is gonna get just what Gary Lockett got,” Loew said. “At 168-175, the guys are bigger and stronger and can take better shots, but Kelly should clean out anyone in the middleweight division in three, four, five rounds.”

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