Fear of losing drives Calzaghe

JOE CALZAGHE is determined to avoid illusions of invincibility as he tries to equal the great Bernard Hopkins’ record of 19 successful world title defences in Manchester tonight.

After 41 straight wins, including his dazzling destruction of Jeff Lacy seven months ago, Calzaghe could be excused for taking an easy defence of his WBO and IBF super-middleweight titles against Cameroon’s Sakio Bika for granted.

But the 34-year-old Welshman, ravaged by hand injuries and still hurting from a handful of amateur losses over 15 years ago, has always been inspired to excellence by the simple fear of another defeat.