Calzaghe on the brink of greatness

JOE CALZAGHE is ready to shine in the neon glow of the Las Vegas Strip in the early hours of tomorrow morning and score a victory which will elevate him to a pantheon inhabited by some of the very best to have laced on gloves.

If Calzaghe beats Bernard Hopkins at the Thomas & Mack Center he will reign supreme as a champion unbeaten in 45 fights and the legitimate world number one at two different weights at once.

And it will crown on a career which began 15 years ago on the undercard of Lennox Lewis’ world heavyweight title win over Frank Bruno, and which has been blighted by criticism no fighter of his talent deserves to endure.

Calzaghe, confident his debut at 175lbs against the veteran Philadelphian will give him extra power but not at the expense of speed, believes his long wait will make the belated global recognition even sweeter.

“Fighting out here has always been my destiny, and now is the perfect time to do it. I could have come over here five years ago but I might not have handled it as well as I am now,” he said. “I can handle it all. Nothing bothers me about coming here. I came here because of the challenge presented by beating Hopkins on his home ground. Lesser challenges do not interest me any more.”

Calzaghe’s extraordinary journey towards greatness has ushered him through plenty of dark days, not least the nights he battled injury and complacency to overcome spoilers like Kabary Salem and Sakio Bika.

Calzaghe’s spectacular unification victory over Mikkel Kessler has belatedly brought him the chance he craved to fight across the Atlantic. That challenge does not come any greater than Hopkins, a freakishly fit 43-year-old who reigned supreme as world middleweight champion for over a decade before moving up to easily outpoint Antonio Tarver for the 175lbs crown.

Hopkins is a rock-hard fighter with the best defence in the business and a relish for feasting on southpaw styles.

“He might throw thousands of punches but I’m a sniper,” insisted Hopkins. “If he throws a thousand punches that leaves him open a thousand times. I’m the most accurate and pinpoint fighter there is.

“I’m no Arturo Gatti,” added Hopkins, referring to the notoriously face-first Canadian. “Gatti was a great fighter but in a few years time he might be eating his meal out of a straw. I’ve never been cut and I’ve never been beaten up.”

The usual week of pre-fight hype will end at shortly after 3am Irish time when both men arrive in the ring for a fight which could bring the curtain down on one or even both careers.

Kelly Pavlik and Roy Jones remain possibilities for future showdowns but Calzaghe must know there would never be a better time to hang up his gloves than with a major victory over Hopkins.

“I’m enjoying my career now and it’s all about showing the world what I can do,” said Calzaghe. “Retiring undefeated would be a beautiful thing, especially having unified my titles on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Who knows, in five years I could make an ill-advised comeback and get my arse kicked. But I don’t think I’ll miss the sport enough to do that. I’ll be happy with what I’ve achieved, and I’ll certainly have no regrets.”

Hopkins has vowed to expedite Calzaghe’s pension plan in a way which the Welshman has never seen.

“Calzaghe’s fought nobody compared to me,” added Hopkins. “I moved up to light-heavyweight to eliminate Antonio Tarver. Tarver didn’t win three rounds in that fight. I’m a southpaw assassin and I’ll assassinate another on Saturday night.”

In fact Hopkins has shown signs of slipping. For all his undoubted guile, he has been beaten twice by the relatively one-dimensional Jermain Taylor, while his win over Tarver has to be placed in the context of his opponent’s dismal effort.

Calzaghe, on the other hand, has risen to the big occasion throughout his career, most notably in the way he figured out and hammered Kessler, a 168lbs star who had proved his worth.

Las Vegas is set to witness a true fight for the purists in which legacies are at stake.