The 30-year-old Welshman will make the 12th defence of his WBO super-middleweight title in December against American Thomas Tate.

However, Calzaghe told BBC Sport Online that the fight he has been targeting since beating Chris Eubank for the WBO title in 1997 could be a pipe dream.

"Maybe I'm starting to wonder if the unification fight will ever happen - I've been talking about it for five years and it still hasn't happened," he said.

"I'm 30 now and I give myself another three years at the top but I've given up talking about the big fight - all I can do is keep defending my title successfully.

"I've just been a bit unlucky because I missed the boat with Steve Collins, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank."

Promoter Frank Warren is hoping to schedule a unification fight against IBF champion Sven Ottke in 2003, possibly in Germany.

But Warren admitted that his attempts to arrange a bout wth Bernard Hopkins had stalled.

"Hopkins was offered $3m and then the next day he said he wanted $6m," Warren said.

"The guy goes from one extreme to the other in the negotiations."

Calzaghe admitted that he had mixed feelings about fighting in Newcastle.

The last time he fought there was in 1999 when he earned a narrow points decision against local fighter Robin Reid.

"I'm a bit disappointed not to be fighting in Cardiff but I have to raise my profile around Britain," he told BBC Sport Online.

"It wasn't a very good experience against Reid - I broke my hand in the third or fourth round and I struggled.

"Hopefully this time I'll put a better performance on and I'll be well-received up there."