Boxing: Calzaghe preparing to end fight with weight
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Your support makes all the difference.It finally looks as if the waiting game is over for Joe Calzaghe and that he will finally get the type of fight that he has wanted for the last four or five years.
On Saturday night Calzaghe retained his World Boxing Organisation super-middleweight title for the 14th and probably last time when he found the necessary punches to drop Armenia's Mger Mkrtchian in round seven. The stricken boxer beat the count but dropped his head in surrender, leaving the referee no option but to end the fight.
Calzaghe will now challenge Glencoffe Johnson for the International Boxing Federation light-heavyweight title in Britain by the end of the summer if both parties can agree terms.
Johnson is one of the sport's most unfortunate characters having been in a succession of fights over the last five years that he has lost but in truth deserved to win. However, his luck changed last month when he beat Sheffield's Clinton Woods to win the bauble that he will now offer Calzaghe.
"I hope that Calzaghe agrees to fight me immediately and does not lose his opportunity by taking a warm-up or by looking for an easier route,'' he said.
If the fight can be made, and according to the promoter Frank Warren negotiations have started, then it is unlikely that Calzaghe will have to visit America. Johnson, born in Jamaica but based in Miami, is not a big enough attraction to require Calzaghe to overcome his fear of flying and make his professional debut in the United States.
Calzaghe has long struggled with the task of shrinking his frame to the required 12st limit and the increased poundage will only benefit him. It is likely that he often weighs in excess of 13st when he finally gets in the ring 28 hours after weighing in.
If the fight can be made and if Calzaghe does win the title then he will be in an enviable position and could in theory feature in one or two fights that generate purses of well over £1m.
However, if there is a stumbling block then it is possible Calzaghe will simply remain at super-middleweight and pick off the one or two challengers that he has been required to beat since he won the title in 1997.
"Johnson is an ideal opponent for me because he will allow me to get another world title and at the same time he is a good test because he has met so many quality fighters,'' Calzaghe said.
If Saturday's fight was Calzaghe's last at super-middleweight it will be remembered for his unusual display of economy and a degree of control he has often lacked in fights where he has admitted that he lacked motivation. He has cleared the final obstacle before the type of fight that he has been demanding and now it remains to be seen if he really can move his career to a different and higher level.
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