Enzo Calzaghe: "Joe is no angel"

Bernard Hopkins is likely to stop at nothing to try to beat Joe Calzaghe on Saturday night. He is likely to have little fear of going outside the laws of the game to secure victory, as he showed when he beat Ronald "Winky" Wright last year. But Enzo Calzaghe, Joe's father and trainer, knows his son can be dirty in the ring too.

"If you look at the three dirtiest fighters Joe has faced - Omar Sheika, Sakio Bika and Kabary Salem - Joe showed he could be a dirty fighter," Enzo said. "Hopkins is not meeting and angel."

Indeed Enzo believes Hopkins, 43, would rather be disqualified than lose legitimately. “I can tell you right now, Bernard Hopkins will look for a disqualification rather than lose to Joe," Enzo said. "If Hopkins is such a legend, he needs to prove it. He needs to fight like a man not foul like a coward.

"A DQ is the only chance Hopkins has to stop Joe. I’m convinced that Hopkins is coming in to spoil it not win it because he can’t win it and he knows it. Just look at his last three fights. It’s head first and punch after.

“Joe will win the fight. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the first round or the final round. I just want it to be a good fight, but it takes two to make that happen. We are here for only one reason. Joe wanted to be here and he wanted to fight Hopkins. We make more money fighting in the UK and Joe attracts many more fans there. But this was the only way Joe could get Hopkins in the ring and we weren’t going to let him slip off the hook again.”

Enzo also said there was no different approach for this bout than any other.

“There is no burden on Joe to change his style for this fight," he said. "Joe’s style is what makes him unique and unbeatable. Why change what works so well? I have a lot of respect for Hopkins’s dream team of trainers, but they can’t go into the ring with him on fight night.  With all his expertise in his training camp, Hopkins has no excuse for fighting a dirty fight.”