Calzaghe calls for fight with Hopkins
5th November, 2007
Joe Calzaghe has called for a fight with Bernard Hopkins after beating Mikkel Kessler on points in their super-middleweight bout. The 35 year-old Welshman, after a shaky start, got a unanimous decision from the judges in front of his home crowd. The crowd of 50,000 at the Millennium Stadium cheered him on through the 12 gruelling rounds.
Kessler was seen as the last real challenge for Calzaghe at super-middleweight, and he certainly proved it in what Calzaghe called one of the ‘hardest fights of his career’. Just like Calzaghe he was unbeaten in his professional career, arriving in the Welsh capital with an unblemished 39-fight record. However, the judges scorecards (117-111, 116-112, 116-112) showed that Calzaghe was the better boxer by some way come the end of the fight.
Having achieved all his goals at 168lb Calzaghe is eyeing a step up to light-heavyweight and a superfight with former middleweight king Hopkins. "I've been 10 years a champion and won four major belts, what else is there to do? All those guys, Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins let's do it...I've shown tonight what I'm all about. I'm looking to fight for another 12 months and I just want big fights now. I hope Hopkins will come out of hiding and not back out. I'll go and fight him in his garden if that's what it takes. I will put an extra seven pounds on and then you will see some proper destruction."
