Pre-Fight predictions and preview with some of boxing’s top journalist and personalities including Bert Sugar (ESPN) and Tim Smith (NY Daily News).

Pavlik-Hopkins Fight Slated For Oct. 18, Promoter Says  Unable to secure a meaningful opponent to wage a middleweight championship defense against in the fall, Kelly Pavlik will move up in weight and face former light heavyweight champion and middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com Thursday.  •  Arum said he and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer struck a deal Thursday for the nontitle fight, which will take place Oct. 18 on HBO PPV at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J…. —Dan Rafael, ESPN.com

And Now, The Biggest Entertainer In Entertainment Floyd Mayweather Jr., the welterweight widely regarded as pound for pound the best boxer in the world, is about as rich and famous as a 147-pound fighter can get these days. People who don’t know anything about boxing beyond Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali recognize him on the street (Who’s that little guy with all the bodyguards?), although sometimes it takes an extra second or two. (It’s that boxer who was on “Dancing with the Stars.”) Mayweather, who used to be known as “Pretty Boy” and now answers to “Money,” is famous, but he’s not famous famous. He won’t settle for that. He wants to be bigger than boxing today can make him… —By CARLO ROTELLA, www.nytimes.com

Lockett Has Puncher’s Chance Of World Titles In a week when David Haye brought a new dimension to self-promotion while Ricky Hatton plumbed new depths of self-delusion, the Hayemaker and the Hitman highlighted the vicissitudes of big-time boxing. • Haye, who aspires to be heavyweight champion of the world, confirmed that he is to act as his own impresario, whereas Hatton, whose winning performance against the valiant Juan Lazcano left him looking more like Rocky than Ricky, confirmed that he may be his own worst enemy. • Haye and Hatton are two of boxing’s most engaging characters, able to articulate with more than just their fists. Gary Lockett is another of that breed. In Atlantic City next Saturday, Lockett will attempt to replenish the fast-diminishing stock of British world champions. To do so he will need Haye’s punch and Hatton’s gumption… —By Alan Hubbard, www.independent.co.uk

Pacquiao, Diaz Delight Boxing Fans With Free Workout Although David Diaz knows he’ll be an underdog in his fight with Manny Pacquiao in four weeks, he already pulled one remarkable surprise in a storefront martial-arts gym Saturday. • By following up some sharp shadowboxing with a well-timed joke or two, Diaz charmed a bit of grudging admiration out of the hundreds of Filipino boxing fans from the Bay Area who crowded into every cranny of the West Wind Gym for a free workout by the two fighters who will meet in Las Vegas for the WBC lightweight title in four weeks… — The Associated Press, www.iht.com

(Mayweather Photos By Finlay MacKay) 

Mancini Says Pavlik Will Knock Out Lockett It was a case of one favorite son to another. • Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini showed up at Youngstown’s Southside Boxing Club to take in a workout by world middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik last week. The lightweight champion from 1982 to 1984 was also back home on business from Los Angeles as he worked on a documentary about his old stomping grounds. • Mancini, 47, said Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs) should be able to take care of business when he defends his WBC-WBO titles against Gary Lockett (30-1, 21 KOs) in Atlantic City, N.J., on June 7. But there are intangibles… —Source: www.cleveland.com

WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and longtime Reno Gazette-Journal boxing writer Steve Sneddon head the list of honorees who will be recognized at the 83rd annual Boxing Writers Association of America Awards Dinner May 1, 2008, in Los Angeles. • Mayweather, widely recognized as boxing’s finest pound-for-pound performer, will receive the Edward J. Neil Award as 2007’s Fighter of the Year. Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs), who scored a split decision over Oscar De La Hoya (in the highest-grossing pay-per-view fight of all time) and knocked out the previously undefeated Ricky Hatton in 10 rounds in his two ring appearances last year, narrowly staved off WBC/WBO middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, whose 2007 resume included victories over Jose Luis Zertuche (KO8), Edison Miranda (TKO7) and Jermain Taylor (TKO7)— 2007’s Fight of the Year. • Other BWAA awards go to Nigel Collins, the longtime editor of The Ring magazine (the James J. Walker Award for long and meritorious service to boxing); Enzo Calzaghe (the Futch-Condon Award as Trainer of the Year); Cameron Dunkin (the Al Buck Award as Manager of the Year); Teddy Atlas (the Marvin Kohn Good Guy Award); Nick Charles (the Sam Taub Award for excellence in broadcast journalism), and Lamont and Anthony Peterson (the Pat Putnam Award for perseverance in overcoming adversity). —Source, www.bwaa.org

I personally would like to congratulate my associates and friends of ROUND1 for their achievements— Ron Borges, Nigel Collins, Steve Farhood, Zach Levin, Don Steinberg, Thomas Hauser, Dan Rafael and Ed Mulholland. Best in ’08! —Lamar

Jones And Pavlik Top Calzaghe Hit-List Joe Calzaghe has insisted he wants one more fight…but who is good enough to give his glittering career the finale it deserves? • Realistically, it comes to a straight shoot-out between the multi-weight legend Roy Jones Jr and America’s rising star, Kelly Pavlik. — Blair Wood, icwales.icnetwork.co.uk

(Photo by John Gichigi/Getty Images)

>> LOOKS LIKES JOHN DUDDY HAS MISSED HIS SHOT, FOR NOW, AT KELLY PAVLIK AND THE MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE Duddy won a majority decision over Walid Smichet in a bout that many at ringside felt he was fortunate to win. But Duddy may have lucked out in the long run because he was badly cut and won’t be able to fight Pavlik in the Garden on June 7. —Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports

>> Boxing has a severe heavyweight drought — as if a meteorite had destroyed the interesting, entertaining, talented ones. HBO’s last pay-per-view heavyweight bout (Rahman-Oleg Maskaev) drew 50,000 buys in August 2006. —Richard Sandomir, nytimes.com

>> The title of heavyweight champion once was among the most magical in sport, but that was yesterday, when the Thrilla was in Manila. Or else ears were being bitten off. Now it battles against the early days of the Grapefruit League for headline space. —Mike Lopresti, Gannett News Service

(Duddy Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images; Insert: Al Bello/Getty Images)