Boxing: Enzo fires last shots in the war of words

Apr 18 2008 by Delme Parfitt, South Wales Echo

IT was left to Enzo Calzaghe to fire the last bullets from the Welsh corner in a war of words that will finally burn itself out here in the Nevada desert tomorrow.

“A round table chat with the coaches” was the billing from Frank Warren’s media department, and, as usual, the fiery Sardinian didn’t need any encouragement to lay his proverbial cards on it.

There is quite obviously something special about Calzaghe senior, given his track record for producing champions out of the humble sweatbox surroundings of a converted Abercarn rugby changing room.

And his gong at the BBC Sports Personality bash last December was a fitting, if unlikely, stamp of approval.

He greets you like a long lost friend, even if he barely recognises you, and he’ll cook you a bowl of pasta like mama used to make.

But the 59-year-old former travelling musician could also start an argument in an empty room if the mood grabbed him.

Yesterday, he had an absorbing audience of hacks who knew full well which buttons to press.

And they got what they wanted in the end, with Calzaghe turning his Italian fury on Bernard Hopkins, the only man who can ruin the biggest night of his son’s life here in Las Vegas.

History tells us that insults do not sit well with Sardinians of all people.

Calzaghe is living proof.

Hopkins he says – racism and all – has gone too far with his mouth for comfort.

“You can make your own mind up about the things he has said, but to me they are words from someone with low self-esteem,” said old man Calzaghe.

“All we have heard is rubbish about his legacy and how he is a legend. To me it is cowardice, it is the talk of a man with no guts and no genuine faith in himself.

“You don’t see Joe going around saying the kind of things Hopkins has said because he fights with his fists, not his mouth.

“We have taken his verbals on the chin, the guy is an idiot.

“I’ve seen him fight on the TV and he has never excited me in any way, shape or form.

“Hopkins is three things: a spoiler, a stealer and a smotherer – and that’s all he is.

“We hear he’s got all these plans for Saturday, but I believe he would rather be disqualified than lose the fight.

“And this is a guy who is supposed to be a legend.”

Like a vintage Bolognese, Calzaghe needed time to simmer.

And when the redness had dissipated from his vexed features, he assured us all that the move out of the Welsh comfort zone will not be the undoing of his boy tomorrow.

He continued: “There has not been too much for Joe to have to deal with.

“He has been extremely professional ever since he has got here and remember this is not the first time we have been away from Wales.

“We have boxed in Denmark, we have boxed in Germany so we know what is needed to win outside of Wales, outside of the comfort zone.

“We’ve found being here in the States refreshing actually.

“In boxing, a ring is a ring, no matter where it is, even if it is in Las Vegas.

“The only difference we have noticed is in the level of interes,t which has been worldwide, but we can handle that.”

What Calzaghe, junior or senior, will not be able to handle tomorrow, is any kind of outcome that sees Hopkins prevail by virtue of roughhouse tactics that bend the rulebook, and subsequent questionable judging.

In fact, you shudder to think of the scale of the detonation from dad in the event of any miscarriage of justice at the Thomas and Mack Centre.

Promoter Frank Warren has expressed full confidence in the integrity of the scorers, but Enzo seems not to share that, and he took the opportunity to demand the contest is fought in a way that gives the punters value for money.

“We came to America because we knew this was the fight the world wanted to see, a good, high-quality, interesting fight,” he stressed.

“But Hopkins is prepared to resort to cheating to get what he wants.

“I would say to him: “If you’re a legend then prove it”.

“He says he is going to do this and that, but deep down the only tactic he has is to try to spoil what Joe Calzaghe does.

“The Americans should let Hopkins know they want him to fight properly and give them the spectacle they deserve.

“If he is a hero, then let’s see him perform the way heroes are supposed to perform.

“All I know is that Joe’s strategy will be that of a champion.”

While victory tomorrow would propel Joe onto an even higher stratum, it would also provide the most emphatic endorsement yet of the father-son combination that has so buoyantly stood the test of time.

And there are good reasons for it’s longevity, says Enzo.

He added: “It is the honesty that makes our relationship unique.

“It is not a case of Joe just allowing me to be his trainer because I am his dad.

“Joe has to respect the work I do with him like he would anyone.

“He sees what I do with the other fighters in our stable and he realises that I actually know what I am doing. If I didn’t we would have been found out a long time ago.

“Training is in my genes and everything Joe has done since the age of nine I have been there with him. I have never been an outsider.

“I have sparred thousands of rounds with him. Look at my nose, it’s crooked, well, Joe did that!

“Everything we have done we have done together, as mates. We have an understanding, he will swear at me and I will swear back.

“Sometimes he will call me Enzo and I’ll say: “Hey, you call me dad!”

Beat Hopkins tomorrow, and you suspect he’ll accept being called anything.

Read Delme Parfitt's Las Vegas blog