Mr Calzaghe Page #6

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when your dad is, you know,

is gonna be in that ring

fighting somebody like Mikkei Kessler.

it was here in

the old Cardiff Arms Park

that Joe Ca/zaghe's

career began back in 1993.

Now he has what may be one of

the toughest nights of his career.

A very, very late night fight

to catch the premium market

in the United States as well.

Fifty-five thousand people

at the Millennium Stadium.

One of the biggest stadium

fights we've ever seen.

Knowing

that you're in Cardiff

and everybody has turned out to see you,

and it's a defining fight for you.

And not only might you lose the fight,

you'/I lose your undefeated record.

To actually take that pressure on board,

it just takes unbelievable strength.

Trying to

wing the shot around,

that straight left hand lead

of Kesslen who's started well.

That's a decent right hand from

Kesslen and a good left jab.

And now, Kess/er's starting to come in.

And he's looking for Calzaghe.

Good right hand. Good work from Kessler.

Mikke/ Kessler was fantastic.

Strong, lovely movement,

crisp timing, heavy shots.

Mikkel Kessler was schooling him.

Great

uppercut from Kessler.

Calzaghe takes it though.

Terrific shot from the Dane.

And these are dangerous

moments for Calzaghe.

The crowd had been silenced.

The dragon wasn't breathing any fire.

Bam, bam, bam, bam. Bam, bam, bam, bam.

Calzaghe trying to work

to the body and making Kessler miss.

This is a better round for Calzaghe.

Oh, this is better.

Right hand from Calzaghe.

Rocks back the head of Kessler.

What I was

saying about Calzaghe, John,

he can adapt and he

can change his style.

That's what the

great sports people do.

Muhammad Ali could change

the pattern of a fight,

Lionel Messi can change

the pattern of a match.

And that's what we saw in this fight.

Good round

though, this for Joe Ca/zaghe.

Good uppercut. Left hand from Calzaghe.

This is a big round for the Welshman,

he's bossed this last minute.

Beautiful work.

We saw the athletic

genius of Joe Calzaghe.

His movement became different.

He tied Kessler up.

He, he began to sneak round.

I had timing, I had the shape.

I was there, but he could

adapt his boxing style.

And that was something I was

too young to, to understand then.

Ca/zaghe showing

superb boxing skills there.

That desire in him, the heart.

You have to give him 100 out

of 100 for heart, Joe Calzaghe

The two hug. May

even be a word from Calzaghe.

I think Kessler knows

that he's /ost that one.

C3/Zaghe raises hfS

3l'mS BDU C6/9bl'8l'6S.

At the age of 35...

...maybe his biggest

test has been this one.

After the Hght I said

to him, let's have this rematch.

He said, "No, mate.

"Tonight was my night. "

I think you were a

little nervous right there.

I could see that in your eyes.

- Oh, yeah, little bit.

- Is that true?

Oh, yeah, well obviously, when you're

fighting in front of 50,000 people, come on.

I was fighting you.

You had knocked everybody

out, nearly, you know?

'Course I'm gonna be a bit

nervous, you know what it's like.

I thought to myself, "If I lose man,

I don't want to think about losing,

"but I can never show my

face in Cardiff again. "

They'd carry me out, mate, carry me out.

My trainer, Jim Montoya, you Know Jim.

Yeah, yeah, he did my bandages.

Yeah, he's, um, he said,

"When you hit Calzaghe with a right, you

should have come back with a left hook. "

I only threw the right hand, you Know.

Yeah, thanks.

Hey, your father is happy.

That bastard.

Hey, come on, man.

As I said, I hate watching

my fights when I lose,

but this is good, this is good.

- Oh, thank you, man.

- This is okay, man.

I lost that fight.

But I tried everything.

Good fight, my man.

Good fight, Joe.

I think, even if there had

been those of us who hoped Joe might say,

"I'm the undisputed Super

Middleweight Champion.

"There's nowhere else for me

to go. I'll hang them up. "

It just, it became obvious from

what we were hearing from America

that, that wasn't going to be

an option for him, you know.

All of a sudden, all the calls

had come in to Frank Warren

and they're coming to Joe Ca/zaghe,

"When can you get over here?"

And I think that was... That

was irresistible for him.

You need to go to the States to

be recognised by the American press,

by the American writers.

You have to go there.

SO what I did, the Week

after the Kessler Hghf,

bought my own ticket,

went out to America,

and, um, the whole point of me

going over was to bump in to Hopkins.

Bernard Hopkins was, pound-for-pound,

one of the best in the world.

I knew I wanted to fight that guy.

Hopkins was in the press room,

and I could see him come in.

'Cause / was doing interviews and

Hopkins was on the other side of the room.

I remember him making

his way towards me.

Twenty five years a boxer with

this face, man. It's for a reason.

You fought in every... Because

you fought over in Europe...

- Because you fought in Europe.

- You think you could beat Kessler?

You fought in Europe. Kessler

ain't not in my league, man.

It was like the school playground.

Fight... There's a fight

going on over there.

And, of course, that's where

Bernard famously said...

I would never let a white boy beat me.

If we fight you will lose.

I you fight me, you will lose.

- I'll never let a white boy beat me.

- You will lose.

"I ain't never been beaten by a white man.

I ain't never been beaten by a white man. "

And we were just like...

And you can call in

any statement you want.

Anybody can put it down, I will

never lose to a white person.

I can't wait, man.

I thought, "Yes!" I loved it.

I thought, "Yes", this fight's

gonna get made right now.

And all the cameras

before he realises are on.

Rung up Frank Warren, I said,

"Listen, the Hght's been made.

Always scares me

when a fighter goes up a weight

because you never know how their

body is gonna react to it you know.

Will he keep his work rate up, you Know.

You're thinking the punches are perhaps

gonna have a bit more heft to them,

but kind of like, will he be

able to keep his work rate up?

And Joe's work rate was always great.

So, I was... Again, I

was scared for that fight.

He said, when

they came face-to-face,

You're a small guy.

"You are this Super Middleweight

they been talking about?"

You know, here's

a man known as the Executioner,

who spent time in a penitentiary, and...

At the age of what he was,

was a very intimidating

and terrifying man.

Every red-blooded American's

gonna be happy with the outcome.

I'm gonna kick his British

ass come April 19th.

The nine year old Joe Calzaghe, the

kid that had been bullied by the bullies

was fighting probably the

biggest bully in boxing.

He was somebody who you thought, this

is gonna maybe be a step too fan for Joe.

I remember the weigh-ins,

and having thousands of people

queue up for a weigh-in.

And all the Welsh flags, Welsh banners,

and Hopkins came out

and they were booing him.

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