Boxing: Calzaghe Aims for Unification Bid

Joe Calzaghe will be heading for a September world super-middleweight unification match against Mikkel Kessler if Frank Warren can reach agreement with the Danish fighter's promoter, Mogens Palle, when the two meet for talks next week.

At stake would be Calzaghe's World Boxing Organisation title as well as the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association titles held by Kessler. Warren may be ready to increase his offer to $5m (£2.5m), but it is likely Palle will also demand a share of promotional profits in what could be one of the most lucrative contests staged in Europe.

Calzaghe, 35, still has his left hand in plaster after sustaining a wrist injury during his recent three-round victory over Peter Manfredo. He will learn on Friday, after undergoing an MRI scan, how well he has recovered from what may be a hairline fracture of the scaphoid bone.

The undefeated Welshman believes he would have been fit to fight in July, as originally suggested, but the extra rest will help his brittle hands to be ready for what may prove to be a tough assignment against the also undefeated Kessler, even though Calzaghe believes he will prove himself to be a class apart once again. "The way I feel, I think I could fight until I am 40, but I need big fights," he said. "I have been a champion for 10 years, and I need to have fights against men like Kessler or Jermain Taylor [the world No1 middleweight]. But honestly, I see Kessler as a rerun of my fight against Jeff Lacy."

Calzaghe produced probably the best performance of his 14-year professional career when he won every round to register a landslide points win against the previously undefeated Lacy when the two met in March last year, a fight in which Calzaghe threw more than 1,000 punches.