Calzaghe feeling strong at light-heavyweight

With just over three weeks to go until his long-awaited United States debut, Joe Calzaghe seemed fit, fresh and happy as he opened his Cwmcarn gym to the media this week. New challenges are the order of the day for Joe when he meets Bernard Hopkins at the Thomas & Mack Centre in Las Vegas on April 19, it will not only be his first bout in the US, it will be his first at light-heavyweight after 15 years making the 12st super-middleweight limit - the change has been good for him.

"Stepping up means I've not had to starve myself so much," Calzaghe said. "Hopefully, I will retain my speed and extra poundage means extra punching power for me. It's a new challenge at 12st 7lb, but it's a challenge I'm looking forward to.

 

"I train twice, maybe three times a day. I'm going out to Vegas on April 5, give myself two weeks to acclimatise and get used to the time difference. It will be great to get away from rainy old Wales and get some sun on my back. I want to keep things as relaxed as possible when I get there, so I'm not going to stay in a hotel, I'm going to stay in a villa, close to a gym, go on my own private runs do things as close to normal."

Calzaghe had his first trip to Las Vegas in December when he went to watch Ricky Hatton against Floyd Mayweather Jr. It proved to be a profitable trip. Not only did he have the confrontation in the media centre with Hopkins that essentially set up the match, he also picked up the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year award. He was back as part of a media tour with Hopkins, but the American is not getting under his skin.

"I don't really care about all the mind games – he might intimidate someone who was 21 and just started boxing, but I'm 36 and I've been boxing since I was nine. For a guy of 43 years of age to be saying some of the things he has is ridiculous. If I go there and perform as well as I can, I'm going to win, that's the ways it is.

"Hopkins was champion at middleweight for ten years so I've got the utmost respect for the guy, but his time has come. It's time for him to retire and I'm the man who's going to put him into retirement. I look at his record and I believe mine is better. The best opponents he has beaten were welterweights – Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad were small guys stepping up. Antonio Tarver was coming off the Rocky film and probably had to lose four stone.

"I don't care about names or reputations. He's fighting someone his own size this time, I can't wait to get over there and show the Americans what I'm all about."