Calzaghe must not rise to taunts
By Mike Costello
BBC Radio 5 Live boxing correspondent
Bernard Hopkins taunts Joe Calzaghe in December before the Hatton-Mayweather fight Hopkins told Calzaghe he would "never to lose to a white boy"
Big fights are like expensive, exotic holidays. The build-up and the memories are very much part of package.
And Joe Calzaghe's 19 April showdown with Bernard Hopkins, although announced officially only this week, was sealed at lunchtime in Las Vegas on 7 December.
On the eve of Hatton-Mayweather, when Calzaghe strolled into the Media Centre at the MGM Grand Hotel, Hopkins responded as though the timekeeper had rung the first bell.
Just as Hatton played the good guy to Mayweather's pantomime villain, so Calzaghe appeared content to soak up the barbs as the two men compared nostrils.
Hopkins and his vow "never to lose to a white boy" was just the start. Calzaghe laughed it off at the time and was still chuckling when I spoke to him this week.
But the journey from here back to Vegas in April will be littered with such insults and at times Calzaghe will want to take the pin out of his own grenade.
It is a test of character separate from the examination in the ring, and rarely does a fighter pass the second having failed the first.
Calzaghe has long yearned for a move up to light-heavyweight and in Hopkins he faces a man who is naturally no bigger
Hatton claimed all along that Mayweather could not dismantle him mentally.
Yet, at the final head-to-head press conference, with Mayweather taunting for one last time, Hatton ended a session of push-and-shove by making his widely-publicised throat-slit gesture.
It was out of character, which is precisely where the Pretty Boy wanted to take him.
So Calzaghe will have come away from Vegas last month with much more than the trophy for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
The experience was vital, for it is difficult to gauge from afar the mania of fight week in Vegas.
On the flip side, Calzaghe also sampled the euphoria. The ovation he received at the weigh-in was barely bettered by the rapturous one which greeted Hatton.
Next time, it is Calzaghe's turn on centre stage, and although the fight will register as one of the biggest of 2008, it will not upstage Hatton-Mayweather for two significant reasons.
The home fighter is past his best. And the visitor has yet to cement a following in the States.
Joe Calzaghe (right) poses with Ricky Hatton and the Sports Personality of the year award in Las Vegas
Calzaghe (right) must learn from Hatton's experience in Las Vegas
Calzaghe has impressed TV executives there but some writers and fans still want convincing.
"Stay-at-Home Joe" is the label they have used until now, and Hopkins has chimed in, even though he himself made not one of the 20 defences of his world middleweight crowns outside the US.
Whatever the American viewpoint, Joe recognises that a big success in the town they call Lost Wages will be a significant boost to his legacy.
Two fights, considered together, define the Welshman. Against Jeff Lacy, his skill and speed were breathtaking. Against Mikkel Kessler, he found grit and resilience in adversity.
All round, the definition of a boxing great.
He has long yearned for a move up to light-heavyweight and in Hopkins he faces a man who is naturally no bigger.
In addition, Calzaghe's frame has the scope to carry the extra poundage, which could hardly be said of Hatton.
Hopkins has won his last two contests against decent, if jaded, opposition to bolster his impressive record against southpaws.
But in 2005, Jermain Taylor twice demonstrated that a younger, busier, snappier man can take the ex-con's measure.
And Calzaghe can do everything Taylor does, only better.