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Joe Calzaghe has rubbished claims that he is only fighting Roy Jones Jnr because he is afraid of losing his unbeaten record to Kelly Pavlik.
Calzaghe and Jones Jnr will go face-to-face in New York in November as the Welshman bids to end his glittering career by extending his unbeaten run to 46 fights.
A match with Pavlik, the man known as The Ghost, was another option for Calzaghe, however the 36-year-old claims the middleweight twice turned down the opportunity for a fight.
"Pavlik is just trying to make a name for himself on my back," Calzaghe told The Sun.
"I tried to get a fight with him twice before. We approached him immediately after I beat Jeff Lacy in 2006 but he declined.
"He fought and beat Jermain Taylor instead and immediately had a rematch with him to dodge me again.
"It's easy to come out of the woodwork and mouth off when you've already signed to fight somebody else."
Pavlik extended his own unbeaten run to 36 fights with a powerful victory over Calzaghe's former stablemate Gary Lockett in June.
The win ignited rumours of a Calzaghe-Pavlik showdown, however undeteated 36-year-old insists the American has never been serious about fighting him.
"He didn't even call me out after he beat Gary," he said. "And with no disrespect to Gary, he's a totally different kettle of fish to me.
"When Pavlik beat Gary, he actually didn't say anything about me at all afterwards.
"It's funny that he's started to get a bit brave now that I've signed to fight Jones."
Pavlik, 26, has been tipped by many to become America's next boxing legend after a flawless start to his middleweight career.
But while Calzaghe believes The Ghost will beat Bernard Hopkins in October, he also thinks the man from Ohio would struggle against stronger opposition.
He said: "I'm surprised Hopkins has agreed to fight Pavlik as he's getting that old now he didn't even know what corner to walk to when I fought him.
"He walked to the wrong corner four times and although he fought a very good tactical fight against me, I think he should retire.
"Pavlik will win the fight, mainly due to his youth, although Hopkins still has the ability to make it very messy.
"But he is definitely overhyped and I think Mikkel Kessler would beat him."
That was from an interview with the british tabloids and Joe seems pretty pissed at Pav for daring to challenge him. Is Cal really afraid of losing to Kelly?
Calzaghe and Jones Jnr will go face-to-face in New York in November as the Welshman bids to end his glittering career by extending his unbeaten run to 46 fights.
A match with Pavlik, the man known as The Ghost, was another option for Calzaghe, however the 36-year-old claims the middleweight twice turned down the opportunity for a fight.
"Pavlik is just trying to make a name for himself on my back," Calzaghe told The Sun.
"I tried to get a fight with him twice before. We approached him immediately after I beat Jeff Lacy in 2006 but he declined.
"He fought and beat Jermain Taylor instead and immediately had a rematch with him to dodge me again.
"It's easy to come out of the woodwork and mouth off when you've already signed to fight somebody else."
Pavlik extended his own unbeaten run to 36 fights with a powerful victory over Calzaghe's former stablemate Gary Lockett in June.
The win ignited rumours of a Calzaghe-Pavlik showdown, however undeteated 36-year-old insists the American has never been serious about fighting him.
"He didn't even call me out after he beat Gary," he said. "And with no disrespect to Gary, he's a totally different kettle of fish to me.
"When Pavlik beat Gary, he actually didn't say anything about me at all afterwards.
"It's funny that he's started to get a bit brave now that I've signed to fight Jones."
Pavlik, 26, has been tipped by many to become America's next boxing legend after a flawless start to his middleweight career.
But while Calzaghe believes The Ghost will beat Bernard Hopkins in October, he also thinks the man from Ohio would struggle against stronger opposition.
He said: "I'm surprised Hopkins has agreed to fight Pavlik as he's getting that old now he didn't even know what corner to walk to when I fought him.
"He walked to the wrong corner four times and although he fought a very good tactical fight against me, I think he should retire.
"Pavlik will win the fight, mainly due to his youth, although Hopkins still has the ability to make it very messy.
"But he is definitely overhyped and I think Mikkel Kessler would beat him."
That was from an interview with the british tabloids and Joe seems pretty pissed at Pav for daring to challenge him. Is Cal really afraid of losing to Kelly?