CALZAGHE GETS HIS KICKS IN RING.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES

BOXING

Just think, if Joe Calzaghe had been quicker afoot, boxing fans might never have been witness to one of the great fighters of this era.

"I started boxing at nine, but I loved football (soccer) as well as boxing," said Calzaghe, who will try to make the 21st successful defense of his super middleweight championship when he takes on Mikkel Kessler in a title unification fight Nov. 3 in Cardiff, Wales.

"To be honest, as a 9-,10-year-old I wanted to be a football player," said Calzaghe, who was born in England but has lived in Wales since he was 2. "But my dad bought me like a punch ball and he took me to the local boxing gym at the age of nine and I was hooked from then on. I realized early I had a talent for boxing.

"I had my first fight at 10. And I actually lost my first-ever fight. The guy I lost to, his dad was also one of the judges. I beat him four times afterwards."

On Calzaghe went, playing midfield on the "football" field, at the same time honing his skills in the ring.

"I won my first British (amateur) title at 13," Calzaghe said. "And when I won my first British title, I gave up football and then I had my dream of one day wanting to become world champion."

It was all Calzaghe thought about. By his own admission, he tanked it in school because his thought process went one way and one way only.

"I didn't really pay much attention in school," he said. "I had this single-mindedness that one day I was going to become world champion. Even the teachers would laugh. They'd say, 'Are you going to leave school?' And I would say, 'Well, I am going to be world champion one day.' And they would say, 'No, you need to get a profession."'

Back and forth Calzaghe went with his teachers. He proved himself right when he won the belt he still holds from Chris Eubank 10 years ago this month.

"And that's the sort of single-mindedness that led me to be where I am today -- the hunger," Calzaghe said. "Even at age 13, 14, I wanted to be the best fighter in the world."

Had he been speedier on the field, however, he would have had a difficult time giving up football.

"I was pretty skillful, but a bit slow," Calzaghe said. "I am a lot faster with my fists than I am with my feet. I run all day long, man, but don't get it too quick. In football, you need to be pretty fast. Never would have made it. I wasn't a bad football player, but forget it, I wouldn't have played for money, let's put it that way."

Calzaghe has made plenty of money as a prize fighter. Unfortunately, none of it has been made in the United States. Of his 43 fights, 41 have come in the United Kingdom. The other two were in Germany and Denmark, respectively.

It is one of Calzaghe's remaining goals, to have a big fight here.

And it could come against newly crowned middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. Pavlik, of Youngstown, Ohio, took Jermain Taylor's two championship belts when he stopped him in the seventh round Sept. 29.

Calzaghe said he was impressed the way Pavlik got up from a second-round knockdown to win the championship in dramatic fashion.

"Obviously, he established himself as the No. 1 middleweight in the world," said Calzaghe, who said he will probably fight only three more times. "Hopefully, now he will come up to middleweight and possibly have a crack at me after I've dealt with Kessler."

Bob Arum promotes Pavlik. Asked this week what he thought about putting Pavlik in with Calzaghe, Arum said, "Terrific."

Calzaghe, 35, is 43-0 with 32 knockouts. Kessler, of Denmark, is 28 and sports a record of 39-0 with 29 knockouts. Their fight will be televised live by HBO.

New champ Pavlik homecoming king

Kelly Pavlik, of Youngstown, Ohio, won the middleweight championship Sept. 29 when he knocked out Jermain Taylor in the seventh round in Atlantic City. It wasn't just any championship-fight victory. Pavlik not only stopped the reigning champion, he did so after nearly being knocked out himself in the second round.

Pavlik has become a celebrity in his state because of his incredible performance, and deservedly so. Last Sunday he did the honorary coin flip prior to the Cleveland Browns' victory over the Miami Dolphins in Cleveland. On Tuesday, Pavlik threw out the first pitch at Jacobs Field prior to the Indians' victory over Boston in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.

Pavlik has been invited to the Cleveland Cavaliers' home game against the Utah Jazz on Nov. 16, and to Ohio State's football game at rival Michigan on Nov. 17.

And he's only 25.

"I just think that Kelly is a super guy and I think that he has a great career ahead of him," Bob Arum, Pavlik's promoter, told this newspaper Tuesday.

From the tone of an interview Pavlik did with MLB.com prior to throwing out the first pitch Tuesday, it sounds like Pavlik is enjoying all the kudos he is receiving. He said Kenny Lofton and Victor Martinez wanted to shadow box.

Pavlik also told MLB.com that he spoke with Travis Hafner, C.C. Sabathia, Casey Blake and Kelly Shoppach, among others, before the game. Pavlik wanted to talk baseball, but they wanted to talk boxing.

"It was amazing," Pavlik said. "To see that a lot of those guys watched my fight and are fans, that was neat to be in there with them. ... I'm a huge fan of the Cleveland Indians."

There was a 30-day option for Taylor and his promoter, Lou DiBella, to exercise a clause for an immediate rematch. Arum said that as of Tuesday, DiBella had not called to confirm that they want the rematch.

Arum said that one scenario would have both Taylor and Pavlik taking an interim fight before doing the rematch. DiBella did not return a phone call made Tuesday to his cell phone. Nor did he return one made Wednesday to his offices in New York City.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Joe Calzaghe, fighting against Sakio Bika on Oct. 14, 2006, was too slow afoot to play soccer, leading to his career in boxing -- and a super middleweight title.

John Gichigi/Getty Images

(2) PAVLIK

Box:

Etc.