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.

Enzo

There was a great night for Welsh boxing yesterday, as Enzo Maccarinelli successfully defended his cruiserweight title against Wayne Braithwaite, and Gavin Rees beat Frenchman Souleymane M'baye to win the World Boxing Association light welterweight belt.

So Enzo Calzaghe now trains three world champions (the two above and his son Joe) at the famously unplush Newbridge Boxing Club. (It was also a great pleasure to see stablemate Bradley Pryce beat the unlovable Anthony Small to retain his Commonwealth title last week.)

The Enzo Calzaghe story is - if anything - more amazing than Joe's in that he didn't really have any involvement in boxing himself before he walked into the club with his nine year old son a quarter of a century ago.

From bass player to arguably the world's best boxing trainer. What a trip. Hats off to him, as far as I am concerned.

See you at Cardiff in November. Strange to think that I was also at the Lewis/Bruno promotion in '93 where Joe Calzaghe made his pro debut.

The Pride

Reassuringly symmetrical intentions cannoned through the generations on Father's Day when I gave my Dad a DVD of the Calzaghe/Hopkins fight, and my son gifted me "No Ordinary Joe", Calzaghe's autobiography.

I'm glad that he hinted yesterday that a fight with Roy Jones Jr in November is likely to be his swansong. Win or lose against a legend like Jones his legacy as the greatest ever British fighter will be secure.

What could he possibly get from a fight with Kelly Pavlik except the chance of an upset?

Prediction: Post Calzaghe, Andre Ward will be the next long reigning boss of the super middleweights.

Dazzling Calzaghe

I am delighted to acknowledge that all my long time doubts and fears about how Joe Calzaghe would cope once he got in the ring with Jeff Lacey were unfounded.

BBC SPORT Boxing Dazzling Calzaghe unifies titles.

Surely he must be comfortably the most successfu British boxer of all time now. I'm still amazed he doesn't have a higher profile.

(Yesterday was a strange and contrasting 24 hours as I spent the afternoon in the Tate Britain at the Gothic Nightmares exhibition which is a very odd warm up for watching boxing.)

Gloves off in Cardiff?

According to the BBC:

WBC and WBO lightweight champion Diego Corrales is ready to step up a weight and fight Ricky Hatton in an amazing double-bill involving Joe Calzaghe.

Corrales wants to face Hatton on the same card as Welshman Calzaghe's projected super middleweight unification with Jeff Lacy in November.

Gary Shaw, who promotes both Corrales and Lacy, says he is already in talks to hold the fight in Cardiff.

That proposal would see 60,000 fans packed into the Millennium Stadium.

I hope that is works out. I've long thought that Joe Calzaghe deserved a much higher profile. He never lost the WBO title after taking it from Chris Eubank in 1997. I can't think of a longer reigning British world champion. (I'm no expert though.)

Can it really be nearly twelve years since Lennox Lewis beat Frank Bruno in the last big promotion in Cardiff's National Stadium? That was an extraordinary night, everyone you have ever heard of seemed to be there. I remember seeing Richard Branson walking down St. Mary's Street. At first - from a distance - with the teeth, the beard and the V-neck jumper I thought it was someone dressed up as him, but it turned out to be the genuine article.

The day after the fight, we were driving by Queen Street railway station a white stretch limo pulled out immediately in front of us, and Lennox Lewis himself opened the sun roof, poked his head through it, and stood up to wave at kids who were chasing after the car.

I had been surprised to read before the fight that he had a bigger chest and biceps than the extravagantly muscled Bruno, but he is the most gigantic man I have ever seen in the flesh. Just the action of him rising through the roof seemed to go on for ever. I can clearly remember that he was wearing a while polo neck sweater and the muscles in his shoulder writhed like pythons as he raised his arms aloft.

I would not want him to punch me under any circumstances.

Mr. Calzaghe

I'm hearing nothing but good things about this new, theatrically released, Joe Calzaghe movie. I was at his both his professional début and, with with both my brothers and my Dad, at the Kessler fight that he considers his finest performance. I've even got a boxing glove signed by him on the wall in my office for goodness sake, so I have to see it.

I'll pencil in watching it with Ben on Thursday.

Coming Around Again

I watched "Mr Calzaghe' with the son and heir last night over cod, chips and mushy peas from the Fish Inn; the first time I've been there for over a year. The movie was a good choice as I could tell Ben I was at Calzaghe's first professional fight which was on the under card at the Lennox Lewis/Frank Bruno clash in Cardiff as well as the Kessler fight in 2007. It was strange watching the Roy Jones Jr footage at the end of the movie knowing that he is fighting Mike Tyson this weekend.

I also got the chance to show Ben the photo opposite of Kru Johnny, his old Muay Thai teacher, training Matt Hancock in the House of Commons in January. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then, but it certainly gives a new meaning to PPE.

What else? Dad is still in hospital. Three and a half weeks now. God know why they won't let him out. And John took Mum to the dentist this week so her new dentures should be sorted soon.

Greatest Hits

As Joe Calzaghe retires undefeated, it is great to think I've got a signed glove in the office, and I was at the Kessler fight that he considers his finest performance with both my brothers and my Dad.

See how he haunts my memory machine at http://nickbrowne.coraider.com/search?q=calzaghe.

Signing off with his features and his faculties unimpaired (as of another Welsh standard bearer) we observe "one of the greatest beings of our time. Whatever our need, we shall never see his like again."

lured into an enormous fishbowl

On a busy weekend for super middleweights, Joe Calzaghe was finally voted off Strictly Come Dancing, and the Super Six World Boxing Classic kicked off with wins for Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham.

In a modified round-robin format, Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch, Jermain Taylor, Andre Ward, and Andre Dirrell will engage in at least three bouts each, with the fighters garnering the four highest point totals advancing to the semifinal round. (Fighters will earn three points for a KO win, two for a decisions win, and one for a draw.)

Beginning with the semifinal round, the tournament will be single-elimination.

Over the course of two years, the winner will have engaged in five bouts against championship-level opposition and won at least four of them (conceivably, a fighter could make the semis with a loss in group stage). At that point, there will be no doubt regarding the identity of the number one 168-pounder in the game.

Last year, I predicted that, post-Calzaghe, Andre Ward could well dominate the division, but his first fight - while admittedly at home in Oakland - against Kessler on November 7, will be a big step up in class. Kessler has a 41-1 record now, it's great to remember that we were there when Joe C inflicted his only defeat.

Land of Hope

I'm off to Cardiff today to meet up with my brothers and watch the boxing. Joe Calzaghe is fighting and Amir Khan is on the undercard.

I think Calzaghe is pretty much bound to win, but I hope it doesn't turn out to be a valedictory performance as he's due to fight IBF king Jeff Lacy in a title unification bout in November. Its amazing to think that he has held a world title longer than any other current boxing champion at any weight.

According to the Times today, Khan said, "Joe deserves more support than me. Look at what he has achieved in the sport. He�s been a world champion for eight years � it�s brilliant, isn�t it?"

He seems to be some sort of genius for always saying the right thing. I think that the lessons of Hamed's big mouth have been well learned at Team Khan. I wonder if his Dad has got much to do with it. I remember thinking in the Olympics that his Union Jack waistcoat was a bigger made a bigger contribution to harmony in the UK than Trevor Phillips and the Commission for Racial Equality ever managed.

Post to Post

The tickets for the Calzaghe Kessler fight and the confirmation for my entry in the Swansea 10K arrived yesterday. I am competitor 3,505 for the latter, which should make the start interesting.

I've realised that a post here is probably the easiest way of letting my companions on these two jaunts know.

Hanging up the gloves

Perfect says USA Today:

Super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe extended his perfection to 46-0 with a unanimous 12-round decision against Roy Jones Jr. Saturday night in what might have been the final bout for both fighters.

It was the second huge victory this year for "The Pride of Wales," who gained a split decision against aged but cagey Bernard Hopkins on April 19 in Las Vegas.

"This year I beat two legends in Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones and I came to the U.S. to do it," he said. "I took the risk. They didn't come to me. I'm just so happy. I worked so hard, and it all paid off."

Before he flew out to the States, Joe signed some gloves to raise funds for The old barn inn charity horse & cart drive in aid of Ty Olwen hospice and continuing care fund, as mentioned here previously and part organized by my brother.

A gent as well as a champ.

Sports Round Up

Wales 47-8 Italy: I'm delighted provide this link that can be used again and again for the next week to watch the game (UK only unfortunately).

Remember that when Italy beat us last year we were languishing at the bottom of the table with four losses from four games; this year we have three wins from three, and masters of all we survey courtesy of England's victory against France.

Moving from Wales versus England to something that is more like a Wales/Italy joint venture, John and I had been toying with the idea of going to Vegas for the Calzaghe/Hopkins fight on April 19th. We've finally agreed that it is not really a practical proposition, what with one thing and another, so this means that I will be definitely be available for the Childline Challenge on Sunday April 20th.

What kind of performance I will put in after staying up to the early hours to watch the boxing live from Nevada I don't know, but at least (as previously agreed), I only have to do the swimming and running as Chris is signed up for the cycling.

If I break my leg skiing next week, I won't have to do either of course.

Greatest UK boxer of all time?

Jeff Mayweather asks some of the guys inside the Mayweather Boxing Club who they think the greatest boxer to ever come out of the UK was

Lots of love here, from people in the know, for Joe Calzaghe - whose signed glove sits near me in the office as I type.

Challenge

After last year's debacle, it is nearly time for the Swansea Childline Challenge for 2008. This should be interesting because it starts at 8:30am on Sunday April 20th and I am also duty bound to stay up to watch the Calzaghe Hopkins fight in the early hours of the very same morning.

The Childline sponsorship form explained how to set up an online collection facility so you can help me raise money for the free helpline for children and young people in the UK at http://www.justgiving.com/welshbornicon or by using the widget below.

Boiling Down

Time for a new challenge.

I hereby challenge myself to get down to the 175 pound light heavyweight limit by the time of the Calzaghe Hopkins fight in Las Vegas on April 19th.

John beat me in the our first challenge, but I beat him in the second. Both our weights have been recorded in the training blog this morning.

Whoever loses the most weight between today and then wins.

(There is a hint of Lent and penance about kicking this off on Ash Wednesday, don't you think?)

Great Minds

Has any other reader noticed the remarkable resemblance betweeen Doris Lessing, the octogenarian Nobel literature laureate and "epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny," and Bernard "B-Hop" Hopkins who is due to be subjected to Joe Calzaghe's scrutiny with scepticism, fire and power on April 19th?

I wonder if they are, by any chance, related?

Hopkins: "Barack Obama 'will be assassinated within months' if he wins presidency"

Lessing: "They would kill him," the 88-year-old author of novels The Grass Is Singing and The Golden Notebook said in an interview, though she did not specify who she believed would kill Mr Obama.

Prodnose: Well that's something of a hostage to fortune don't you think?
Myself: John 19:22; Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."

Hello World

Let it be known that I have today purchased four tickets for the Calzaghe/Kessler World Title Reunification bout in Cardiff on November 3rd. I'll be going with my Dad and my two brothers, so life is good.

The last time we went to anything remotely similar was the Lewis/Bruno bout at what was then the National Stadium in '93.

Super

Very pleased we are to report that Joe Calzaghe came all the way from Newbridge to Vegas and beat the braggart Bernard Hopkins.

Very pleased we also are to observe how the Welsh fans respected the USA's anthem, unlike Ricky Hatton's Madchester hordes (whose booing of it at the last Nevada US/UK showdown embarrassed me at a distance of 5,000 miles which was a new record).

I only wish that the woman who sang The Stars and Stripes could have shown it as much regard. No one loves Aretha Franklin more than me, but I can't be doing with faux Aretha melismatic pseudo-soul. Mark the singing up to Wales after Tom Jones' Land of My Fathers as well.

In related sports news I completed the Childline Challenge this morning and felt a lot stronger than last year. Getting up for the boxing at 3am and drinking lager until retiring again at 5 obviously agrees with me.

Contender Asia

Do you remember Peter Manfredo Jr fighting Joe Calzaghe last year? He came to prominence via "The Contender", a reality television series that followed a group of boxers as they competed with one another in an elimination-style competition.

Well the format has been adapted for Muay Thai in "The Contender Asia". Our interest was obviously piqued considering that my little boy has been taking Muay Thai lessons for eighteen months now, and I've even been doing it myself for nine.



The show started airing last week, but it's not available in the UK so I've been reduced to online craftiness in order to watch it. I really don't like pirating things, but as the official website presents the series as if it is playing out weekly - though it is obviously all in the can already - I really can't see any alternative if Ben and I are to sit down and every seven days and speculate on the how it ultimately turns out.

In the Internet age it seems to me that producers need simultaneous worldwide distribution, especially with special interest material. Then again, if I knew how they could pull it off, I'd probably be a lot richer than I am.