A crossroads in England

Joe Calzaghe knows he has waited too long for the moment that will finally arrive for him Saturday night in Manchester, England, when he tries to unify the super middleweight title at the expense of undefeated American champion Jeff Lacy.

The 33-year-old Welshman has quietly defended the World Boxing Organization version of the 168-pound title 17 times, but often he has had to settle for opponents far below the caliber of the man he longed to face: former champion Roy Jones Jr. Calzaghe is one of many champions of Jones's era who feel the same way -- that their best days were spent in pursuit of a reluctant superstar who saw little need to face the biggest challengers if he could be well-paid to avoid them. Of course, a lot of folks will argue that Calzaghe is cut from the same cloth.

Regardless, there's no doubt that when Calzaghe faces Lacy, it will be the biggest fight of his career. It will be his defining moment, but one can't help but wonder if it has come too late for an undefeated champion who, though 40-0, has looked like a man in decline in his most recent defenses.

Calzaghe contends it is not the ravages of time that have worked to dull his skills but the frustration of time wasted with injury and chasing the kind of fight he finally has with Lacy. Saturday night, he promises, will be different because he knows what Lacy means to him: everything.

''Better late than never," Calzaghe said of a fight that certainly will be late, since it won't start until 2 a.m. local time to accommodate US television. ''Through no fault of my own, the one thing missing from my résumé was a unification fight. The Germans [champions and promoters] were never interested in putting a fight together. Jones was never interested.

''But Jeff Lacy, he's the new kid on the block. He's undefeated, young, and game. I needed a career-defining fight. He's giving it to me. The better the opponent, the better I've always performed. A lot of opponents I haven't been able to get up for. It's hard when you've been champion for so long to get up for some of these guys, but I know this is a massive fight for me."

The same is true for Lacy, but for different reasons. Long pushed promotionally by Gary Shaw, Lacy has begun to break through the glass ceiling too many of today's top boxers face in the sports marketing world.

Lacy's charm outside the ring and his concussive style inside it have brought him opportunities few other fighters outside of Oscar De La Hoya and the rotund George Foreman have found. Lacy was the sole boxer chosen to appear in a cellphone commercial for ESPN during the Super Bowl and he is writing an online diary for FHM Magazine.

The fact that he's appeared 14 times on Showtime in 21 fights is also a sign that he is on the cusp of becoming that network's brand name in boxing -- at least he will be if he can destroy Calzaghe in spectacular fashion.

Although Lacy, the International Boxing Federation champion, has talked in recent days as if that will be the easy part, Calzaghe quietly insists Lacy will not become a crossover star in America by crossing the Atlantic to cross over his supine body.

''Lacy's talking big now, but on the night, let's see how brave he is," Calzaghe said. ''I've stopped 31 of 40 opponents. Does that suggest I'm a slapper? That I can't punch?

''A lot of American fighters challenging for my title have come over here shooting their mouth off and they came up second-best. Lacy will be no different. He's a great fighter but it's not about him. It's about me.

''We both need each other to see who's the best. At 33 years of age, they may think I'm ripe for the taking but I'm not. I'm like Bernard Hopkins. He went for years winning and never getting the credit. When he got his opportunity, he took off."

Lacy believes he will be the one who takes off after he takes out Calzaghe, that this will be his ascension to a throne higher than that of just a boxing champion, and it will come at the expense of a guy whose time has come and gone.

''This fight is paramount for me," Calzaghe said. ''I've been dominant at super middleweight for eight years. I'm stepping in against the sort of challenge I've waited all my life for. Now it's here."

It's here in the person of a powerful puncher whose left hook dovetails perfectly with Calzaghe's biggest weakness, a sometimes lazy right jab. Both men know this. Both know Lacy is the hardest puncher in the division while Calzaghe has shown recent signs of weakness. They know, too, that Lacy has never been tested by anyone as experienced and talented as ''The Pride of Wales."

For one, it will be his night. For the other, it will just be a very early wakeup call.

Calzaghe wanted a 22-foot ring, but the agreement finally ended up with a 20-foot ring, a decided advantage for a fighter like Lacy, who is constantly coming forward and stalking his opponent . . . Lacy believes Calzaghe's chin is suspect -- even though he's never been stopped -- because Byron Mitchell dropped him June 29, 2003, for the first time in his career. He's since gone down a second time, and Lacy figures the third time is the charm . . . Hopkins now says his June 10 fight with Antonio Tarver will be his last one, regardless of the outcome . . . De La Hoya got off the line of the week in Los Angeles when he and his May 6 opponent, former welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga, got into it for the second time in less than a week during a press conference to hype their match. After the requisite pushing, shoving, and disrespectful spewings of Mayorga, the former champion said to De La Hoya, ''You're no fighter. You're pretty like my wife." De La Hoya barked back, ''I've seen your wife and she's not that pretty." . . . What you saw last Saturday from Fernando Vargas was both the best and worst of him. His pride and courage are without question. Unfortunately, so is his stubbornness. Although he was right in the match with Shane Mosley and landing the more powerful blows when the bout was stopped because of his badly swollen left eye, his refusal to do anything to protect it from Mosley's right hands or to change his style led to his downfall. Now he has become the latest Thomas Hearns clone, a fighter respected for his courage but on the wrong end of each of the three big fights in his career . . . Mosley is now in competition with his boss, promoter De La Hoya, for a shot at Floyd Mayweather. Mosley said before the Vargas fight that he would return to the welterweight division regardless of the outcome. That's because he wants a shot at Mayweather. But if De La Hoya is successful against Mayorga, he knows the biggest money fight out there for him is also with the undefeated Mayweather, assuming Mayweather gets by Zab Judah April 8 in Las Vegas . . . Commonwealth heavyweight champion Danny Williams won that title by split decision from Matt Skelton but said he has no intention of giving Skelton a rematch. What he wants is a shot at Nikolay Valuev, the World Boxing Association champion. Him and every other heavyweight.

HBO will oppose Showtime's Lacy-Calzaghe card with one of its own Saturday night when undefeated junior welterweight Miguel Cotto (25-0, 21 KOs) takes on tough Gianluca Branco (36-1-1, 19 KOs) in Puerto Rico. Branco's only loss came by decision to Arturo Gatti two years ago . . . Speaking of Gatti, he again had his troublesome hand surgically repaired and will be back in the ring July 22 fighting Carlos Baldomir for the World Boxing Council welterweight title. Baldomir is the guy who upset Judah on a night when he was paid only $100,000. He gets to cash in this time, receiving $1.5 million for putting himself and his title at risk against a far harder puncher in Gatti . . . Boxing still sells in Germany. The April 22 fight between IBF champion Chris Byrd and former WBO titleholder Wladimir Klitschko sold more than 14,000 seats in two days at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. German promoters claim it's the fastest sellout in the country's history. The fight will be live on HBO at 5 p.m. Eastern time and replayed at 10 p.m. . . . Expect to see one of boxing's rising stars May 13 at Foxwoods or possibly even in Boston when promoter Art Pellulo brings undisputed 140-pound champion Ricky Hatton to the States. No opponent is set, but HBO will televise the bout. If the fight lands in Boston, it could go to the TD Banknorth Garden or Agganis Arena.

Material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and other sources was used in this report.