Joe Calzaghe will lose no sleep over the identity of his next opponent after successfully defending his WBO super-middleweight title for the 20th time with a third round stoppage of Peter Manfredo.
The 35-year-old Welshman has long found his super-fight dreams mired in boxing politics and will allow his promoter Frank Warren to do the difficult work of trying to land an opponent to test his credentials.
Chief on that list is reigning world middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, to whom Warren has made a £1.5million offer for a fight in July - possibly at the new 23,000-seater indoor arena on the site of the Millennium Dome in London.
Calzaghe said: 'I just want big fights on big occasions like this. It would be nice to fight in America but will see what happens. I don't care which of the champions gets in the ring with me. I just want to fight.'
Others on the shortlist include Calzaghe's fellow unbeaten 12-stone champion Mikkel Kessler, although Warren insists the Dane has already dismissed the July date claiming he would need more time to prepare.
Warren is growing increasingly impatient with the promoters of Calzaghe's prospective rivals, and also hit back at suggestions he needed to fight in the United States to enhance his all-time great credentials.
Warren said: 'Joe has just fought in front of 35,000 fans on a show which was televised in the US. What difference would it make if he fought over there? There only difference would be fewer fans inside the venue.'
That is the clearest indication yet that the home-loving Calzaghe will finish his career in Britain - and in truth he has gone far beyond the stage of having to travel anywhere to prove anything.
His win over the outclassed Manfredo at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium was another masterful display of the precocious talent which has now lifted his record to 43 straight wins and kept him as champion for almost a decade.
Calzaghe pounded the 'Contender' star into a neutral corner in round three and rained down blows before referee Terry O'Connor decided he had seen enough and waved the contest off.
Manfredo's camp protested the stoppage vehemently. The challenger said: 'I was starting to duck and get out of the way and he stepped in and stopped it. I'm still in shock. Anybody who thinks that isn't crazy is retarded.'
In truth O'Connor was simply hastening the inevitable, and the reaction of the record 35,018 audience showed that Calzaghe's supporters went home content with what they had seen.
Calzaghe said: 'I was enjoying myself in there and whatever Peter says, I definitely hurt him. It would have been over anyway inside the next 30 seconds. I understand Peter's frustration but it is not my call.
'It was fantastic to defend my title in front of so many people. After nearly 10 years of being a champion and having lots of frustration, I have got to where I have always wanted to be.'
