**Calzaghe PICKS Taylor! (Plus Info on Hopkins)**

T'S been a fun week for me, back into training and on the promotion trail for my fight with Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas on April 19. I am off to the US next week for a press tour. None of the family are coming with me, neither is dad, I am just going over there to talk to the US press before coming back and hitting the gym - hard. As you'll all know - if you read the Argus last Friday - Hopkins came to England to meet our press boys and he made quite an impression. Old man Hopkins may consider himself a tough guy from the mean streets of Philadelphia, but he's a massive moaner! First of all he got into a row with BBC Wales man Steffan Garrero who asked him whether he regretted his "I will never lose to a white boy," comments. You don't need to be a genius to work out this question was bound to be asked, but Hopkins went pretty mental about it, he wasn't happy to talk on that subject. At the end of the day he shouldn't have said it and he probably knows it, but I did enjoy watching him squirm. Hopkins then started whining that he was cold, that England was freezing and he didn't like it. The presenter from Setanta told Hopkins he should've worn warmer socks and he went absolutely crazy! He kicked off big time, screaming and shouting again and he had to be calmed down by Steve Bunce. I found it very, very funny. My overall impression of Hopkins is he's a bit of a pantomime figure, he knows how to sell a fight and he says stupid stuff just for the sake of it, a bit like Floyd Mayweather. The difference is that Mayweather backs it up by being maybe the best fighter in the world, whereas Hopkins isn't going to get near me in a couple of months. I will look forward to going to the US for a press tour, that is something that has changed in me over the years. I used to hate doing press before a fight; I didn't really enjoy any of the stuff that went with being a world champion. But now I realise it's part and parcel of being a great champion, I can't expect people to be interested in my fights if I don't promote them. A week with Hopkins though. That's going to be tough! I am delighted that the bill at the CIA on March 22 has been confirmed, when my stablemate Gavin Rees will headline a bill for the first time. I mentioned a few weeks ago in my column that something big was on the cards for Gavin, my dad Enzo lobbied really hard to have him as the main event rather than a world champion undercard fighter for me or Enzo Macc. Gavin puts his WBA title on the line for the first time against Andreas Kotelnik, it'll be a tough fight and one I would pay to watch (although obviously I won't have too!) Gavin is deserving of some big pay days and could meet Ricky Hatton or Junior Witter later in the year if he keeps focused and keeps winning. Harry Miles and Kerry Hope will also be on the bill, along with Gary Lockett, who is one fight away from a shot at the WBO middleweight title. However, our involvement doesn't end there, Pontypool's Tony Doherty - previously based in Manchester - is the newest member of Team Calzaghe. We've all known Tony for years and he's a great guy and a top prospect, though he's lost his way a bit in the last 12 months and was beaten for the first time recently. He's got a Welsh title shot at the CIA against southpaw Barrie Jones; it's fair to say Tony Doc has pretty good options for sparring southpaws in our gym! Gary Lockett found the intensity of training under my dad hard in his first week, he soon adapted though and Tony will be the same, he'll be in the best shape of his life by March 22. Finally, it's prediction time for me ahead of Kelly Pavlik v Jermain Taylor 2. While it is a certainty that Gary Lockett will get a shot at the WBO title that Pavlik has, it is also quite a big possibility that the winner of Taylor v Pavlik will face me in maybe my last ever fight, after I take out old man Hoppy. So I will be a very interested observer and this is a proper 50/50 fight, though if anything I lean slightly towards Taylor. Pavlik could easily have been stopped in the second round of the first fight, he was gone and I give him great credit for the way he came back and ended up winning the fight. But despite what people say, I believe him to be pretty one dimensional, he's an aggressive front-foot fighter with a good chin. But on his day I think Taylor has a bit more about him, I think he might edge it and I look forward to seeing what happens. It could be really good. South Wales Argus