I WANT to get straight into things this week by talking about Kelly Pavlik, the middleweight champion of the world.

Increasingly I am being made aware of Pavlik calling me out, saying I am ducking him.

Writers in America have suggested I will tarnish my legacy if I retire before fighting him, that he is the kid I must beat to prove I am the real deal.

Frankly, I am finding the whole thing to be somewhat ridiculous.

Here are some things that I haven’t revealed about Kelly Pavlik before.

He was offered the chance to fight me. Twice.

Frank Warren was interested in him after I beat Jeff Lacy and we were again keen to face him after he beat Jermain Taylor. On both occasions Pavlik said no.

After I had beaten Pavlik’s next opponent, Bernard Hopkins, and Pavlik had beaten my stablemate Gary Lockett; Pavlik was asked about fighting me.

At the time he said that he had no idea about his next opponent, that it was an issue for his promoter.

Does that sound like a guy desperate to fight?

I think Pavlik is now trying to create a buzz based on my reputation.

I don’t have a problem with that, it’s the way of the business, but it isn’t going to get me thinking that I must fight this kid to shut him up.

The bottom line is, there is always going to be a Kelly Pavlik calling me out.

There will always be one last great fighter who I have to beat to secure my legacy in the eyes of some.

There will always be a younger guy out there who thinks he’s got my number.

But it doesn’t change my position. The fight on November 8 with Roy Jones Jr MIGHT be my last.

I have said that all along. I might face Pavlik, I might not. It depends how I feel after I have beaten Jones.

But let me make a couple of things crystal clear.

Firstly, if I fight Pavlik, it’ll be on my terms and because I think I have sufficient motivation to train for another six months and fight longer than I intended to.

I have nothing left to prove. As a super middleweight I beat six former world champions. Why didn’t I get a unification fight until I fought Lacy? I can’t answer that; it’s an issue for my former promoter Frank Warren to address.

However, I don’t in any way regret fighting Jones Jr this time around.

For me, Roy is a class above Pavlik even if he isn’t perhaps the great he once was.

Pavlik is so one-dimensional it is painful to watch. He has a great heart, a good chin, but very little ring awareness.

My advice to him is to concentrate on beating my old ‘mate’ B-Hop!

I think he will beat him, bearing in mind old man Hopkins kept going to the wrong corner when he fought me and is now six months older, but I don’t think it’ll be an easy fight for him at all.

On a much more pleasant note, I would like to offer my congratulations to the Team GB boxing boys on a brilliant Olympics.

Most of all, I extend my congratulations to James Degale, our gold medal winner.

I read yesterday that Degale regards me as one of his heroes, a lovely thing for him to say.

I watched him in the final against the Cuban and he handled himself very well in a dirty fight.

Obviously the kid now has the world at his feet and for what it is worth, I do have some advice for him.

The crucial thing, even though it’s a bit clichéd, is to maintain the same hunger and desire to succeed now that he’s won gold.

Amir Khan has done this brilliantly. He has taken the same attitude into the professional ranks as he did as an amateur and is reaping the rewards.

Obviously it can go the other way as well, the money you make turning pro after winning at the Olympics is absolutely crazy and can ruin a fighter.

It comes down to attitude and desire. I don’t suppose Degale will join the paid ranks immediately, but I guess it’ll be a big surprise if he does compete at London in 2012. Money talks.

Inevitably, when talking about the Olympics I look back to Barcelona in 1992, when I should’ve represented Britain as I was by far the best we had then.

However, for one reason or another it didn’t happen and of course I do regret not winning that gold medal, it’s an outstanding achievement and getting on that podium is a sensational thing to happen to anyone.

But I genuinely have no regrets, I believe in fate.

If I had had all that success when I was a kid perhaps my hunger and dedication wouldn’t have been as great.

I seriously doubt if I would have been a world champion for coming on 11 years, or undefeated for that matter.

For me it just wasn’t meant to be.

But here and now I would like to invite James Degale to come to our gym in Newbridge and to get stuck in with some of the boys.

We’d love to have him down, he could spar with me and some of the other guys and we could test his fitness under dad’s sadistic training regime.

He’s a southpaw like me and looks to be a very special talent.

He seems like a really good bloke, he came across very well in interviews and he has a big future.

I would be delighted to help him in any way I can and the offer is absolutely serious, any time he wants to come down and train he is more than welcome.

Just get in touch with the Argus and we’ll make it happen.