Calzaghe Q&A

[Boab 73]

http://sports.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Ot...-locale/boxing/

Kessler is a slick operator, with a great record. What do you expect him to bring to the contest?

He's a good boxer with good all round strengths, he can punch. But one thing he hasn't been in the ring with is a Joe Calzaghe. So it's a big step up for him. This is his fourth defence, this is my 21st defence so lets see how he responds to the pressure and to a southpaw like myself. I've been a champion for over ten years now and at age 35 he's probably hoping I've slowed down a little. But to be honest, in the gym I'm feeling great, as good as ever and I don't see any reason why I can't pull a Lacy style performance out. Obviously I count him as a better fighter than Lacy and I think it will be a harder fight, probably a more tactical fight. But I still see me winning.

How does it feel to be boxing in front of up to 60,000 people?

To be honest, I haven't been thinking about the crowd. I don't care if it's 2,000, 20,000 or 200,000 when you're a fighter and your focused walking into the ring, all you are focused on is the ring and the fighter inside that ring. Obviously you can feel the atmosphere and it can give you a lift, but I won't be daunted by that.

Why now, near the end of your career, are the big fights finally happening?

It's ironic really. When you fight impressively its more difficult to make the fights. They don't want to come to your backyard or they price themselves out of the fight. It happened with Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins. But with the Lacy fight, he took the fight because I had some poor performances. I broke my hand against Evans Ashira. I had some personal problems and didn't train right for Kabray Salem in Edinburgh and got dropped. I think because of that he thought I was a shot fighter and I was over the top. They thought they would walk through me. To fight the best fight of my life in the most important fight of my life with the biggest exposure I've had in my life brought me to a new level. I can walk down the street anywhere in the country now and get recognised and I suppose a couple of years ago that wouldn't have happened. Also I've been on HBO and Showtime in the States and finally they have realised my talent and now they are finally ready to stump up the money and the likes of Mikkel Kessler can get well paid to come to Cardiff to fight.

What level of training will you be undertaking for Kessler?

I train the way I always train. I've given myself eight weeks for this fight so I've been in the gym for seven weeks at this stage. There are still five weeks to go so my weight should be perfect. I started sparring last week with Enzo Macceranelli who is the best Cruiserweight in the world. He's tall like Kessler then there's Nathan Cleverly who is very fast and Bradley Pryce who has a fight coming up next week. So as regards sparring I'm lucky. We're working out twice a day. The weight is coming down nicely. I'm just under 13 stone now so with five weeks so everything is going well. My hands are fine and that has always been my main problem. But I'll keep my fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong. This type of fight is what it is all about for me and I have to say, I'm very excited about it. It'll be great to be involved in such a great occasion on the 3rd September and I will go out and fight my heart out and hopefully it'll be a great performance

You mentioned the impact of American TV and for the Kessler fight, despite being at home in Cardiff, you will be fighting in the middle of the night. How will this affect your preparation?

My fight against Jeff Lacy was at 2.30 in the morning as well so I've done that and to be honest it is a pain in the ass. I was training in the middle of the night and still waking up at half eight or nine in the morning which was really frustrating for me. But I guess when the adrenalin kicked in you wouldn't have realised I was knackered before the Lacy fight. This one is at one in the morning. Obviously I would prefer if it was at ten o'clock at night but it is just one of those things. So for two weeks before the fight I will train late to adjust my body.

Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather square off a month later, how do you see this contest going?

Obviously Mayweather is a very talented fighter. He has tremendous handspeed, so you have to say he is a hot favourite to win the fight but all this dancing with the stars you think he's not training right. Definitely Ricky has a chance. He is a puncher, he's hungry, he'll come forward and he'll be on him all the time. Maybe Mayweather isn't hungry anymore. He's a tremendous talent but it all comes down to hunger and if he is prepared to go to war. Hatton has a chance but there is no shame if he does lose because Mayweather is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world.

You've toyed with moving up in weight a number of times in the past. Post Kessler will you make the change?

I've said before a number of fights that they were my last at super middleweight. But I actually mean it this time. Beyond Kessler there is nobody at super middleweight who could interest me or go anywhere towards my legacy. If I win against Kessler what is there left for me? I'm only going to have two or three more fights so I'm going to go for the money fights. Maybe go to America to fight Hopkins. The only fight I would stay at super middle for is if Jermain Taylor wants to step up to fight me or possibly Kelly Pavlik. But I'm not interested in mandatories. I want to go to the States. I think it would be incredible to fight at Madison Square Garden and to say I've gone to America and done it would be great.

Another interesting super middleweight contest taking place shortly is Karl Froch v Robin Reid how do you think this fight will play out?

I think Reid is shot. He fought me, and I beat him with a broken hand. He brought his A game, I brought my Z game and he still lost. He still goes on that he could have and should have won but that's rubbish. He won his title against Nardiello who was one of the worst super middleweight champions there has ever been. Then he lost it straight away to Sugar Boy Malinga who was like 38 at the time. Then he's lost to Blanco and was destroyed by Jeff Lacy. I couldn't tell you how many times he was knocked down by Jeff Lacy. And he's had one fight since then against a contender – Jessie Brinkley. I think he's got no chance. That's not to say I think Froch is anything special. I certainly think he can punch. But defensively he can be very loose and I think he could be caught out against a top fighter but I think Reid is four or five years past his best. But you never know. He can punch and apparently the last thing that goes is punching power and he was a decent counter puncher and that might cause Froch problems. You never know he might leave himself open to big shots over the top but I'd be shocked.

What will you do when you retire?

I'm not sure. Obviously boxing is something I've done for 25 years. I love the game. I have a lot of knowledge to give the sport. And obviously me and dad have our own gym, where we have three World Champions. Obviously I'd like to help out with my dad, but you never know maybe I'll manage and promote one day. I'd also look into the TV work so there are a lot of options but at the moment I'm not looking at things like that because I'm still concentrating on boxing. My career's still going and I'm still focused on having a few great fights.

[the goal machine 7,824]

He's gonna kill Kessler