Joe Calzaghe - Britain's greatest boxer? -Sport
Written: 21st April, 2008
It takes a special person to close down the gaming tables in a Vegas casino - you can easily imagine the floor supervisor counting the seconds and losses simultaneously in his head - but Joe Calzaghe managed exactly that following his defeat of Bernard Hopkins on Saturday.Dealers downed cards, gamblers downed chips and Calzaghe fans formed an impromptu guard of honour as he processed triumphantly to the after-fight party at the Planet Hollywood Resort. I’d wager that Vegas would rarely have seen anything like it since Sinatra and his Rat Pack were cutting a swathe through the city in their peacock-strutting pomp. But Joe isn’t hanging about for long. He is not as enamoured with the bright lights of Vegas as Frank, Dean and Sammy were, and will jet to the Caribbean for a family holiday on Tuesday before heading home to Blackwood, the place he fits in best. “I love that. I’m just Joe, and I think people respect that,” Calzaghe told BBC Sport. “I’ll get recognised a lot more, but I’ll have the same friends, shop at the same places.
“I don’t go out of my way to get all the attention, I’m just here to do my job. Thank God I’m gifted at boxing.” There was no guard of honour for Hopkins, only a deep sense of aggrievement, and trainer Freddie Roach confirmed his dressing room was a dark place immediately after the fight. “How can I give any credit when I believe I won the fight?” said the 43-year-old at the post-bout news conference. “I’m told that he landed the most punches on me in all my fights. Well, if that had been the case, I’d be looking like the elephant man and my nose would be at the back of my head. “I’ve never been the cutest, but I’m reporting in the morning for a photo-shoot because there’s not a mark on my face. I got beat, but not by Joe Calzaghe.”“I would like to see him retire,” Roach told BBC Sport. “He’s my good friend and it would be great to see him spend time with his family.”Indeed, several times Hopkins looked as though he was about to launch into a retirement speech up on the dais.
Source BBC news