The Calzaghe Diaries: "Hopkins style might frustrate me"

Sunday, April 6
If I stand at the end of the garden out back, I can see it: the Strip, the bright lights, the hotels and casinos and the Las Vegas that people know. But I’m 10 miles up the road in a quiet part of the city, away from all of the excitement, which is just what I want. The villa I’m renting here is nice, with an outdoor swimming pool and Jacuzzi, a pool table upstairs and a large living room with a big TV screen - of course, I forgot all the DVDs and CDs that I intended to take with me.
The alarm on my mobile phone didn’t go off yesterday morning. Me and my girlfriend, Jo-Emma, both had alarms set for 5am because the car taking me to Heathrow was picking me up at 5.45am, so I woke up at 5.55am, with Dad banging on the back door, all ready to go. There’s just my dad, my uncle Sergio and Nathan Cleverly, my sparring partner and pal from Blackwood, who have come out here with me. I don’t have an entourage and don’t want to be caught up in something I’m not used to, which is why I’m not staying on the Strip. I’m trying to keep to my routine. As soon as I got here last night I went for a run. I didn’t want to after a long flight because I was knackered but I pushed myself and I pushed myself again today, doing seven miles, which is longer than I usually run but it’s not as hilly as back home. Then I went to the gym at about 3pm and everything is good because there are no people around to bother me. I want to stay relaxed but I have to keep my focus, so staying out here as opposed to being on the Strip is ideal.
Monday, April 7
I don’t really think about the fight at this stage, I just think about my training and my conditioning. Do you know how many times I’ve watched Bernard Hopkins fight? Once, against Winky Wright in his last fight. I watched it today because I was bored, so I had a look to refresh my mind, see if anything concerns me about him or if he has anything special. To be honest, if he wasn’t Bernard Hopkins and I watched him fight, I wouldn’t think much of him at all. All I see is a guy who’s adequate and does things fairly well but nothing exceptional. If the fight was in Wales, it wouldn’t even be a contest. The contest for me is fighting in America for the first time, outside my comfort zone, at a new weight, 12st 7lb, and not 12st. That’s the challenge, though Hopkins has a style that might frustrate me. He’s defensive and holds a lot. He’s also dirty and does things in a subtle way, like when he butted Wright and opened a bad cut over his left eye. It didn’t look blatant but I’m sure it was. Joe Cortez is a fair referee, however, and I’m happy he’s officiating. He refereed my bout with Chris Eubank in 1997 when I became super-middleweight champion, which might be an omen.
Tuesday, April 8
I didn’t wake up until 8am and, gradually, my body is adjusting to the time difference. I felt less lethargic today and I’ll reap the benefits of having come here two weeks early. My weight is good and I’m eating well, better than I would at home. Nothing against Jo-Emma’s cooking but Sergio is a qualified chef and my dad’s useful in the kitchen, too. I’m eating pasta, chicken, salad, even chocolate, which is unheard of this close to a fight. For me, the fighting is easy compared to making the weight because getting down to 12st is painful after doing it for 14 years. Not having to shed the last 7lb for this fight will make a huge difference in terms of my strength and power.
Wednesday, April 9
I’d prefer not to have any other commitments until the week of the fight, when I’ll have the head-to-head press conference next Wednesday, and an open workout on Tuesday. But this is a big fight, so there have been conference calls, radio and newspaper interviews and lots of stuff going on because HBO have paid a lot of money to put this fight on and everybody wants their pound of meat. I did a public workout today at Planet Hollywood, a couple of rounds of shadowboxing and four or five rounds on the pads with my dad. Quite a few people showed up and the reaction was good. There are tickets still to be sold, so we have to bang the drum. I spent an hour with HBO, being interviewed for their preshow segment on the night of the fight, but there’s only so much you can accommodate in terms of promotional work and you have to draw the line somewhere. If I did everything I’ve been asked to do, it would f*** with my training and f*** with my mind. The showbiz and celebrity side of it goes against my ethics. All I’m here to do is win a fight.
Thursday, April 10
The guy who owns the gym I’m working in is a top poker player and owns a blind dog that can do the Ali shuffle. He’s a husky dog with cataracts in both eyes but he can sense his way around the yard. When Tony brought out a pack of meat and some snacks the dog came running to him and did the Ali shuffle, all four paws back and forth.
Hopkins did a public workout today at his gym in Pasadena and mouthed off some more about what he’s going to do to me. In my experience, dogs who bark don’t bite. I’m always more worried about a dog who doesn’t bark. Some of the stuff Hopkins has come out with is laughable. We did a face-off at each stop on a press tour several weeks back and he’d be saying things like: “I’m going to make you **** blood . . . Say goodbye to your babies . . . Are you ready to die?” I just looked at him, smiled and said: “Do you actually believe what you’re saying?” He’s saying this to a man who’s had more fights as an amateur and professional than he’s had. It might work on a 20-year-old but, obviously, he feels he needs to get some sort of advantage. It’s not worked but it’s interesting he feels the need to play this game.
Friday, April 11
Tom Jones invited me to one of his concerts at the MGM Grand earlier in the week but I’m in the gym at 8pm every evening, because this is the time I’ll be stepping into the ring. I would love to have gone to see Tom because he’s a big boxing fan and he’ll be singing the national anthem in the ring before my fight. We got together a few days before I boxed Sakio Bika in October 2006 in Manchester, and he said I ought to come out here to make my name in America. I don’t feel I have anything to prove. I’ve been a champion for 11 years and I beat Mikkel Kessler, the best opponent I’ve ever faced, in my last fight, but Tom was right: you have to come out and perform in America to make the fans here take notice.
Saturday, April 12
I’ve trained well and I’m relaxed. As I’ve got older, I’ve got more mature and my mindset’s different. The Jeff Lacy fight lifted a weight off my back because I’d never really shown what I could do before that fight and I still had my doubters. But I beat him and suddenly people had to admit: “You know, he really can box.”
I’m waiting for my sons, Joe and Connor, to arrive today with Jo-Emma. I know they’re excited about watching their dad box in Vegas. Connor says to me: “Dad, I don’t want you to retire, I want you always to be world champion.” But I’m near the end now. I feel in my heart that I want to let it go and I know this is my last year. I’ve done it all. I got into boxing to become undisputed champion and the win over Kessler gave me that. What else can I do? I could have a big fight with Roy Jones Jr or Kelly Pavlik, the world middleweight champion, but that’s down the road. Now I’m focused only on Hopkins.