By Mark Vester

While WBO/WBC middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik is being positioned for a showdown with unbeaten John Duddy in June, Jermain Taylor is going to throw his hat in the Joe Calzaghe hunt.

Taylor has an upcoming rematch with Pavlik on Feb. 16 in Las Vegas. The bout takes place at a catch-weight of 166-pounds. The first meeting, held in September at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, saw Pavlik get off the canvas in the second and return the favor by knocking Taylor out in the seventh.

Bob Arum of Top Rank has already put the wheels in motion for Pavlik to challenge Duddy in June, should Duddy get past Matt Vanda on February 2. Since the Taylor rematch is at 166, Pavlik's middleweight titles are not on the line.

On the other end, Taylor's promoter, Lou DiBella, told BBC Sport that a bout with Calzaghe, the undisputed super middleweight champ, is the most logical fight after Pavlik.

"It's hard to look past this fight but, knowing Jermain, if he wins, Joe would be the fight he wants," said DiBella. "If he succeeds in this rematch I would be very surprised if he didn't say 'Go pursue Calzaghe'. At this point in time I think anyone who knows boxing knows that the second best fighter in the world is Calzaghe and that's only because Floyd Mayweather is out there. I think Calzaghe has had a tremendous year and has stamped his status as one of the great super-middleweights of all time. So if I know Jermain and he beats Pavlik, that's where he sends me looking."

Calzaghe is currently in talks to stage a bout with Bernard Hopkins at light heavyweight, but DiBella is not confident that fight will come off, and he doesn't see Hopkins being able to win if it does. Calzaghe and Hopkins have agreed on a 50-50 split, other details still need to be agreed upon. Hopkins has a history of being very difficult at the negotiations table.

 "I'm not confident that [the Hopkins] fight will happen because I'm not confident they can make a business deal with Bernard," said DiBella, who helped develop Hopkins as a fighter before an acrimonious parting of the ways. But I don't even think it's competitive. That's no disrespect to Hopkins who was one of the great fighters of all time, but I just don't see Calzaghe losing to a 43-year-old man who can't punch. I think Hopkins can frustrate him and maybe win a few rounds, but Calzaghe has too much and is too young."

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