IT was an exciting day in the Calzaghe household yesterday as I found out I had won an award that really vindicates my decision to manage the final fight of my career.

A lot of people raised eyebrows at my decision and questioned whether I had done the right thing, but yesterday morning a letter arrived from the BWAA, the Boxing Writers Association of America.

They informed me that while I have lost out to Manny Pacquiao as the Fighter of the Year, I have been named Manager of the Year for managing my fight with Roy Jones.

It’s huge honour to receive such recognition from over the pond and I will be delighted to go and accept the award in person in New York this summer.

Only two other fighters have ever won the award, George Foreman in 1994 and Bernard Hopkins in 2004.

The BWAA awards are democratic (voted for in a ballot) and have been running since the 1930s, so I truly feel it’s a tremendous honour to have won it and like I say, it feels like a huge vindication as well.

My dad Enzo won Trainer of the Year last year and to my knowledge, we are the only father and son in boxing history to both win awards.

Obviously now that I am retired management is becoming more and more important to me as we try to build up the profile of Calzaghe Promotions and take our shows to the next level in the coming months.

We eventually have our sights set on far bigger fight nights and stages than the ones we are currently putting on in Merthyr and in the remainder of 2009 my priority is to really raise the profile.

We want to be staging world title fights and working with big names as well as doing everything we can to promote Welsh boxing and make stars of the guys we are already working with.

One guy I would really love to work with is a former opponent of mine, Mikkel Kessler.

For my money Kessler is by far and away the best super middleweight in the world and I understand he’s currently involved in a battle with his promoters for how long he is under contract.

Down the line when his situation is less complicated, I would absolutely love to work with Mikkel, he’s a great fighter and a gentleman outside of the ring.

However, in the meantime we are focused on our shows being the best they can be and it’s a shame that Taz Jones has decided to pull out of a rematch with local Merthyr boy Kerry Hope.

I don’t know if Taz ever really wanted the rematch but it’s not going to happen now, perhaps he knows he was lucky to win on our first show because of a clash of heads.

However, all is not lost because Kerry is now fighting for a British Masters title and we still have a former world champion on the bill, Gavin Rees ready to shed some ring rust before hopefully getting back into the world title picture.

It should be another cracking night for Calzaghe Promotions and of course the next step for us is to be putting on bills that attract TV coverage.

However, it would appear that in the current financial climate, that is easier said than done.

At the moment Britain only has one world champion fighter, my biggest fan, Carl Froch.

He’s fighting Jermain Taylor, a genuine top name in boxing, yet amazingly and disappointingly, the fight will be on live TV in the US but NOT here in the UK.

What a shame for boxing fans (including this one) that we can’t watch our only world champion in action.

I understand the fight is going to be available on a pay-per-view basis on the internet, but it’s hardly going to attract a large audience.

It’s a tough one, but in my opinion, you’re better off having some TV coverage for nothing than no TV coverage for some money.

I was expecting someone would pay to show the fight at the last minute but it doesn’t look likely.

It’s an intriguing fight. Froch looked good last time out, but I am not convinced Jean Pascal, the guy he beat, is a world class fighter. This represents a much bigger test for Froch.

Taylor has the better ability, but I question his heart and Froch has all the heart in the world and a good chin.

So it’s a very tough fight to call, I’d just about tip Taylor if he shows more heart than he has recently.

If they are both at their best Taylor wins but I certainly wouldn’t rule out Froch getting the better of him.

I was pleased to see Roy Jones get back on the winning trail recently against another old foe, Omar Sheika and now Jones is lining up Jeff Lacy.

If Roy gets back into the world title hunt, perhaps people will realise he has still ‘got it’ just like Hopkins did when I beat him.

I didn’t get the credit for that fight until Hopkins smashed Kelly Pavlik and it’s the same story with Jones. It’s amazing how many people have ‘off nights’ against me!

Finally I just want to wish Oscar De La Hoya all the best after he announced his retirement.

Oscar has been a brilliant servant to boxing and could’ve made a ton more money by fighting on even though he is shot, because people adore him.

But he’s done the right thing in calling it a day, he has the hunger and loves the sport but sometimes you have to listen to everyone around you and Oscar has without question bowed out at the right time.