Calzaghe Launches One Man British Invasion.
By Curtis McCormick
In what may be the most dangerous chapter of his eleven year career, WBO Super Middleweight Champion Joe Calzaghe travels to Germany in order to defend his title this Saturday against mandatory challenger Mario Veit in Braunschweig. It’s only the second time that Calzaghe has ever fought away from Britain and the “Pride of Wales” must contend with a tradition of dubious decisions as well as a motivated opponent bent on revenge.
Despite the fact that he’s already met and disposed of this weekend’s adversary a full four years ago, the longtime WBO Champion isn’t taking this continental excursion lightly. “Obviously my going to Germany takes away the comfort factor for me,” said Calzaghe. “Knowing how the judges can be there, I have to make sure that I win decisively. It could be tough but I’m really looking forward to it. I don’t think I’ll be as lucky again to knock Veit out as early as I did the first time we fought but I do think that I’ll have the chance to knock him out all the same.”
On April 28th, 2001Calzaghe and Veit met for the first time and the result was nothing less than spectacular. At Cardiff International Arena, the reigning champion crushed his German foe halfway into the first round and although Veit came into the contest with a spotless record of thirty wins and no losses, the man from Cottbus proved completely unable to take the fast handed southpaw’s power.
Much is riding on the outcome of this spring tour of Braunschweig, as the lucrative unification matches that Calzaghe has long sought appear to be finally on the horizon. There’s no shortage of possibilities for the undefeated southpaw, who has his sights pinned on three very specific scenarios. “Jeff Lacy says he fancies a fight with me and since he holds the IBF belt that would be the type of unification fight that I want,” explained Calzaghe. “But I’d prefer to fight Glen Johnson or Antonio Tarver ahead of Lacy. I’d also like to fight for a title at light heavy to fulfill my goal of becoming a two-weight world champion. Even though Johnson and Tarver don’t hold titles right now, I think that I’d get a lot more recognition from beating one of them, for instance, than beating Clinton Woods who holds the IBF belt at light heavy.”
As much as those prospective pairings could result in the career defining victories Joe Calzaghe has long sought, that future as well as a seven year title reign will all come crashing down if he doesn’t take care of business on Saturday night. “I think going to Germany will give me a bit more incentive, a bit more fire in me to put on the kind of performance that I have to,” stated Calzaghe. “Because obviously my last fight was one of my worst performances and at the end of the day, I can’t afford to fight like that again. If I do, then I expect to get beaten. I know that I have to be on the ball on the night and make sure I perform like I can.”
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