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Enzo Calzaghe to Hopkins: “Don’t be a coward!”
Enzo Calzaghe to Hopkins: “Don’t be a coward!”
Story and photo by Chris Cozzone
If insults were punches, Bernard Hopkins, two days before he steps into the ring against Joe Calzaghe, would be clinching in order to avoid another combination.
At a media roundtable held today at the Planet Hollywood Casino in Las Vegas, Enzo Calzaghe, father and trainer to the undisputed super middleweight champion from Wales, held nothing back in his assessment of the “so-called legend,” Hopkins.
Called everything, from a coward to a cheater, from “a duck’s arse” to “a bit of an a**hole,” the Hopkins name endured a verbal bruising and battering by the confident trainer.
“Joe is a proven legend,” said Calzaghe, “and he did it without all the sh** talk. Sure, early on, when Joe won his first title, he was all talk, going around saying ‘Man, I’ll do this, I’ll do that.’ But he learned to shut up and get on with it with your fists.
“Now, you don’t see Joe going around, doing all this. What Bernard Hopkins is doing, is cowardness. He’s a person who’s got no faith in himself. I look at all that and take it tongue in cheek, but he’s a bit of an a**hole.”
The pre-fight banter, says Enzo, is endurable—but what he will tolerate are two scenarios that may play out Saturday night in the ring.
“You people [the video] need to ignite ol’ Hopkins to fight,” says the trainer.
“We came here to satisfy the public’s demand. To give a good, interesting fight. You want your ‘American hero’ to run away from a fight? You tell Hopkins to fight.”
Enzo says he strongly suspects that Hopkins will not only resort to cheating Saturday night, but will stoop low to disqualifying himself if he thinks he’s losing the fight.
“That’s your legend,” says Calzaghe. “He’d rather disqualify himself than lose. Where’s the legacy in that? That’s an a**hole, not a legend.
“I hope it doesn’t happen. It’s Hopkins’ only chance, to use spoiling tactics, but that’s the mentality of a loser.”
Avoiding a “real fight,” says Calzaghe, is expected out of Hopkins.
“I guarantee you, that he’ll do that. I’d rather see this fight go down in history as a war between two battlers. But we know it—we’ve seen Hopkins do it in his last three fights. It’s head first, punch after, for Hopkins. He doesn’t want to fight. He’s a coward under pressure.
“But I still hope it will be a true, honest fight. But if it isn’t, if it’s a bum fight, don’t condemn Joe.”
Enzo says that if Referee Joe Cortez does his job, the outcome will be a guaranteed win for the Calzaghe camp.
“I don’t have to ‘think’ Joe will win,” says Enzo. “I know he will win. Whether it’s 12 rounds or one round, it’s going to be a win for Joe.”
Despite Hopkins’ unorothodox style, Enzo says there was no need to strategize or change training.
“Why should Joe change his style for Hopkins?” says Enzo. “It’s not bout changing our style for Hopkins—it’s about Hopkins changing his style for Joe. We didn’t have to plan to beat Hopkins—and that’s what puts Joe in a different class.”
How does Cazlaghe plan on winning?
“With fists,” Enzo exclaims. “We can’t kiss him to death.
“Joe has a perfect state of mind. He’s 110 percent and feels absolutely strong as an ox. This weight is Joe in his comfort zone. We have no doubts about the outcome.
“All we ask for, is a true, honest fight.”
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Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing
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