King and Frank Warren are said to be planning a unification series

Calzaghe is preparing to defend his WBO belt against former WBA champion Byron Mitchell on Saturday, the American being promoted by King.

Mitchell's trainer Al Bonani, a long-term member of the King management team, said: "I think you'll see the 168-pound division being unified very shortly.

"There's something in the works but I'll let Frank (Warren) make the announcement - if there's one man who can put up the money for the deal it's Don King."

Calzaghe promises painful lesson

The other reigning super-middleweight champions are Germans Sven Ottke (IBF and WBA) and Markus Beyer (WBC).

Calzaghe's going to have to come out of the corner and face worldwide opposition Al Bonani

American interest would be needed to attract the cash of the US networks, though, meaning that Mitchell and middleweights William Joppy and Bernard Hopkins would also come into the equation.

The elusive Hopkins would be the star draw, but also the most difficult to pin to a contract.

Warren tried over a year ago to arrange a unification series involving Hopkins, Calzaghe, Harry Simon, Eric Lucas and Roy Jones Jr, but that came to nothing.

Hopkins has long been a target for Calzaghe

The truculent Hopkins is still having trouble securing big-money match-ups, an attractive fight with James Toney recently falling through.

Warren and King have been reluctant bedfellows since a dispute that went to the courts four years ago, but Bonani says that they are ready to put that behind them.

"The networks are biting at the bullet in the US," he told BBC Wales Sport, "I think that Calzaghe's going to have to come out of the corner and face worldwide opposition."

Home-loving Calzaghe, increasingly frustrated with his inability to secure top-quality opposition, has recently indicated his willingness to fight in the States.