Boxing: Noisy punters are an issue for Calzaghe

Apr 16 2008 by Delme Parfitt, South Wales Echo

JOE Calzaghe has already spoken about the encouragement derived from the travelling hordes of British fight fans arriving in Las Vegas this week.

But yesterday we witnessed the first signs of that support disfiguring into boorish football-style chanting, the like of which eventually undermined rather than ignited Ricky Hatton’s ill-fated expedition to face Floyd Mayweather here last December.

The Mancunian fumbled around for a variety of excuses in the wake of the lesson he was taught by Mayweather before Christmas, refusing to acknowledge the glaring gulf in class.

Yet his reference to the disgust on the face of referee Joe Cortez’s face that evening as the Star Spangled Banner was drowned out by boos and whistles is not without significance.

Cortez is the man in the middle on Saturday night, and while there is an obvious need not to cloud his thinking through mass disrespect of his country’s anthem, there are other reasons why restraint is sorely needed at the Thomas and Mack Arena.

Hatton’s army sought to take over Vegas through volume of numbers and a typically tasteless back catalogue of terrace favourites.

It was all in the name of building up their man and unsettling his opponent.

But the whole sorry episode backfired completely, serving only to stiffen Mayweather’s resolve to show them who was in charge.

He did, emphatically. And with Calzaghe already up against factors such as a acclimatising to Sin City, a maiden fight at a heavier weight and the usual precursor that any victory must be comprehensive in the eyes of foreign judges, he could well do without the counter-productive tendencies of the mob.

It has not yet reached that stage, but with the migration from the UK set to intensify as the days go by, it could.

At the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino yesterday, both he and Hopkins staged open workouts.

Calzaghe was first up, walking in amid a wall of adoration, and if anything the confidence and competence of his routine underlined just how little he needs hecklers trying to fight his corner as well.

The Newbridge man pumped his fists relentlessly, ducked, bobbed, weaved and glided, never once losing his balance in the makeshift ring.

This may have been for show, but in camp Calzaghe there is never any justification for not doing things properly.

“We love you Joe,” came the cries. “South Wales!” “Risca boys, Joe!” Calzaghe was even asked to do the Ayatollah by one bloke set some distance back.

He didn’t bother tapping his head, but he waved intermittently, and flashed that smile too.

It was cheery, reassuring stuff, but then it took a different turn.

To appreciate the pantomime villain nature of Hopkins’ subsequent entrance you had to be there.

As if his route to the canvas being accompanied by a chorus of jeering wasn’t jolting enough, it got worse.

“Washed up old man, washed up old man!” That was the first ditty – to the tune of “Play up Pompey, Pompey play up” – struck up by one group.

Next up it was: “There’s only one Joe Calzaghe, one Joe Calzaaaaaaghe”, followed by “Wales, Wales!” a la the Millennium Stadium as the national rugby team chases the Grand Slam.

By this time an inflatable daffodil had appeared and the volume had ratcheted up a few notches.

It was even drowning out Hopkins at one stage as he tried to hold an impromptu chat with journalists at ringside.

Nothing wrong with voicing your support for sure, but when a few over-zealous Brits began shouting “You’re going down old man” at the American from outside the public cordon but within 10 yards of him, you sensed things going rather too far.

They were obviously unaware just how much Hopkins revels in his Executioner nickname, how comfortable he is with being deeply unpopular.

It must have been lost on the boo-boys that this 43-year-old is one of the few US fighters despised even by large sections of boxing followers in his own country.

Which is why someone has to put out the message that Calzaghe’s procession towards the biggest night of his boxing life must not be allowed to head down the same road as Hatton’s, the road to raucous oblivion.

And with that in mind it will be more than a little interesting to see just what transpires at Friday’s weigh-in.

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