Calzaghe and Hopkins to Square Off in Las Vegas
Joe Calzaghe will fight Bernard Hopkins at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on April 19. The champion confidently declared when he and Hopkins promoted their Las Vegas fight in London that it will be Hopkins’ last fight.
In reply, Hopkins referred to the fight as the execution of Calzaghe. He said it was high time Calzaghe left his backyard and fought in another country. Hopkins, 43 years old, has to his name 20 world title defenses for middleweight. He was the one who defeated the then undisputed Antonio Tarver in 2006 for the light-heavyweight championship. Hopkins stressed that age will not be a disadvantage for him. According to him, he may be an old man, but one that can fight.
Calzaghe, who remains undefeated in 44 fights, said that he may be down to his last two fights. Aside from the fact that he is turning 36 in March, he also did not want to fight just for the money. The champion said he may be able to fight when he reaches his forties, but added that it may be difficult for him to keep motivating himself to continue in his career because there were no more “big names” to have a match with. In other words, there will be no more challenge. People are thinking whether he will be like Rocky Marciano, who eventually retired undefeated.
