American boxer, Bernard Hopkins, has spoken of his desire to compete in a rematch against Joe Calzaghe. The 43-year-old was speaking after his impressive victory over Kelly Pavlik in Atlantic City. Hopkins was defeated controversially by Calzaghe in April of this year and now wants the chance to prove himself against the Welshman, who remains unbeaten.

The prospect of another match against Hopkins should worry Calzaghe, particularly since he displayed impressive world-class form during the non-title 170lb catch-weight fight on Saturday.

The WBC and WBO middleweight champion, Kelly Pavlik, was completely outclassed by Hopkins, who believes the victory to be the best of his career, which has spanned 55 fights. He stated that, in his mind, the win was better than his previous triumphs against Antonio Tarver, Felix Trinidad, and legend of the sport, Oscar De La Hoya.

Prior to the fight, Hopkins was desperate to prove that he could still compete at the highest level at the age of 43. The boxer managed to do just this, handing Pavlik, who is just 26 years of age, his first ever defeat.

The judges in Atlantic City gave Hopkins a unanimous 119-106, 117-109, 118-108 decision and the ‘executioner’ displayed some devastating moves that completely belied his age. His speed and agility were truly impressive and Pavlik, whom many felt would embarrass the Philadelphian by making him feel his age, often looked slow and weak in comparison.

Pavlik tried to downplay the impact of Hopkins’ skills and fantastic movement on his own form in the ring, stating that he simply “couldn’t get off […] It wasn’t his slickness, but I just couldn’t throw more than a single jab”. However, these words seemed somewhat empty, especially when viewed in the light of the manner of the defeat, which at times saw Hopkins able to taunt the younger fighter.

The new confidence that Hopkins has gained from his crushing defeat of Pavlik has motivated the fighter to express his desire to travel to England, to fight Calzaghe.

These are fighting words from the American, who has only competed once in Europe, against Anibal Miranda in 1992. This fight, held in Paris, saw Hopkins reign victorious but Calzaghe, who is set to compete against Jones Jr. in New York in early November, will not give up easily.

The match between Hopkins and the Welshman earlier this year was very entertaining. The American floored Calzaghe during the opening exchanges but the Brit staged a remarkable comeback during the latter stages of the match.

The match was so closely fought that one judge believed it to have finished 114-113 to Hopkins. However, two other judges handed Calzaghe the victory, extending his unbeaten run to 45 fights. At the time, the Welshman spoke about how “clever” Hopkins could be in the ring, and revealed that he finds it very “awkward” to fight against him.

The American, on the other hand, was not a good loser and publicly spoke of his belief that he should have been handed the victory: “the whole world knows I won this fight”. Given the history between these two fighters, the prospect of a rematch is extremely exciting and would certainly be an occasion to savour.