REGULAR readers of this column will know that I have big plans for Calzaghe Promotions and people shouldn’t write us off because our second show at the Merthyr Leisure Centre was cancelled recently.

It’s a real shame for all the local talent that we had lined-up to fight that they didn’t get a chance to shine, but times are hard and ticket sales simply weren’t good enough.

However, it was never our intention to just promote shows locally in Wales and after a few months of recharging the batteries and deciding what comes next, I am increasingly hopeful that Calzaghe Promotions will be able to make some big announcements soon.

It’s a case of watch this space, but I am in talks with some interested parties and really hope that I can push us on in the next few months.

Of course, it’s a bad time, in terms of the world economy, to be starting a venture as risky as boxing promoting.

The fact is that television, purely and simply, is the be all and end all of taking a promotion company from tiny venues to big arenas and getting the necessary exposure.

Television coverage isn’t exactly easy to secure at the minute, highlighted perfectly by Britain’s only world champion, Carl Froch, not even fighting on UK TV for his last defence, only securing coverage for the following evening.

But the hunger is there for us to make this venture successful. We’ve had a tough few months with a few set-backs in the gym, but being away from the sport makes me appreciate it and I would love to truly establish Calzaghe Promotions, it is something that I am really determined to do.

We want to make big fights, promote Welsh fighters and challenge the top promoters to keep things interesting. Competition is healthy.

Sticking with boxing and my feelings about Ricky Hatton haven’t really changed since I was last asked whether he should retire, though I can perhaps make my perspective a little clearer.

I have explained that it is only Ricky that can make the decision, that only a fighter knows within himself when it is time to call it a day.

He was annihilated by Manny Paquiao and might feel he doesn’t want to walk away from the sport after such a beating.

However, I hope he doesn’t fight on simply for another pay day if he doesn’t truly believe he still ‘has it.’ Because it wasn’t the real Ricky Hatton we saw fight Manny, his tactics were awful and it was sad to see him lying on the floor looking genuinely hurt.

Ricky will be evaluating every factor at the moment and I expect he’ll continue, though I would be sorely tempted to call it a day, some things are more important than another pay day.

Speaking of Manny, it’s abundantly clear now that he is the top man in boxing today, the undisputed pound-for-pound king of our great sport. Well, I say undisputed, that tag lasted about five minutes before his win was overshadowed by Money Mayweather’s return to boxing, he is now to get back into the ring and not to wrestle a seven foot giant at Wrestlemania!

Mayweather is back, his retirement is done and the winner of his comeback fight with Juan Manuel Marquez will surely face Pacquiao in an autumn super fight.

Now that is a fight I am already hugely excited about and I am sure the boxing fans reading this column will agree with me. I don’t see Mayweather versus Marquez as being as close as people are making out, I think Mayweather’s size advantage against a former featherweight will make a big difference and I see him maintaining his undefeated record ahead of fighting the Pacman.

It should be a brilliant fight.

One man I hope we don’t see fighting anytime soon is a real favourite of mine, Ken Buchanen.

Ken, now 63, is a former lightweight world champion (won in the days when being a world champion really meant something) and he is thought of by many to be Britain’s greatest ever champion.

Ken was an undisputed world champion in the early 70s and if he fought today, he wouldn’t be worrying about money.

Unfortunately fighters of that generation didn’t earn much and because of finance, Ken is talking about making an unlicensed ‘white-collar boxing’ return to the ring.

It’s purely for money and what a shame that a great like Ken, in his 60s and with a broken back, has to consider such drastic measures.

I could go into great detail about how boxers even today, simply don’t get the big bucks people assume they do.

I was a world champion for a long time before being financially comfortable and it’s hard to take when you see how much average football players earn these days.

Finally, just a word to wish Nathan Cleverly, my former stablemate, all the best in his Commonwealth title defence at York Hall tonight.

My split with Frank Warren was the reason Nathan left the Calzaghe gym and it’s great to see he is still undefeated and hopefully on his way to being a world champion.

Enzo Maccarinelli, another great pal of mine in the sport, is also signed to Frank Warren and has also parted ways with the Team Calzaghe gym and will no longer be trained by my father Enzo after losing his last fight.

It’s a shame that ‘politics’ has meant they have had to make tough decisions, but both are good mates and I wish them nothing but success.

Dad still has the likes of Gavin Rees, Bradley Pryce, Hari Miles, Tony Doherty and Jamie Todd fighting out of his gym and is determined to bring title gold back to the stable.