Monday, November 05, 2007

Red letter day

I, along with my father and both my brothers, was at the Millennium Stadium in the early hours of Sunday morning to see Joe Calzaghe join "the boxing immortals", as The Times put it.

Did you know that while Enzo Calzaghe's "gym in Newbridge, a small valleys town in south Wales, can already boast three world champions with many more set to follow", there is only one world champion in England?

Enjoyably parochial a dig as that is (and all of the Calzaghe fighters on the undercard won yesterday) the English champion is the redoubtable Ricky Hatton, whom we will all be supporting when he fights Floyd Mayweather next month.

Joe Calzaghe wants to move up to light heavyweight and fight Bernard Hopkins next. I think we are pretty much honour bound to follow him to that bout even if it is in the States.

Fly to Vegas, watch the fight, meet Gina Carano and live happily ever after. I could do that.

1 comment:

Nick Browne said...

Correction.

According to http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A28773930

At the time of writing, Britain, some of you will be surprised to learn, has five bona fide world champions, not including Hatton, who is currently without one of the big four belts.

Apart from Calzaghe, there is his stable-mate Enzo Maccarinelli, the WBO cruiserweight king and one of the most exciting talents in the game.

There is Sheffield’s Clinton Woods, who holds the IBF light heavyweight crown, and two title-holders at light welterweight: the gifted Junior Witter (WBC) and the game Gavin Rees (WBA).