Joe Calazaghe.

[redrus]

Come on Joe.............

redrus

[redrus]

CALZAGHE NOT FEELING COMPLACENT

As he aims to equal Bernard Hopkins' record of 19 successful world title defences in Manchester on Saturday, Joe Calzaghe has revealed his motivation: a fear of defeat.

The 34-year-old Welshman has now racked up 41 straight wins, his last being the most dazzling of all: the dismantling of the highly-rated Jeff Lacy seven months ago.

Calzaghe enters the MEN Arena ring again this weekend to defend his WBO and IBF super-middleweight titles against Cameroon's Sakio Bika.

But Calzaghe is taking the bout against his relatively unheralded opponent as seriously as any other - his inspiration being simple.

Despite his unbeaten professional record, Calzaghe still smarts over a handful of amateur losses over 15 years ago.

"I am a proud fighter and winner," he said. "I remember crying my eyes out after every single one of those amateur defeats and I still hate the idea of losing.

"I have so many goals left to achieve in this sport but I know in boxing you are only as good as your last fight, so everything can change if I do not take this fight as seriously as all the rest."

If Calzaghe produces anything like the display he produced against Lacy back in March, then victory against the Australian-based Bika should be a formality.

He won every minute of every round against his previously unbeaten American opponent, the nature of Calzaghe's victory finally convincing Stateside pundits of his world class talent.

The win was made all the more remarkable given Calzaghe's long-standing tendency towards hand injuries.

"Four weeks before the Lacy fight I was thinking I would have to pull out with another injured hand and my dad (trainer Enzo Calzaghe) told me: 'If you pull out again you will have to retire'," he continued.

"It put everything in perspective and I realised I just had to go for it. I didn't throw my left for a few rounds and it worked out fine.

"I don't worry about these things any more, I just go for it."

redrus

[redrus]

Well ###### me that was harder than anyone thought, espacially Calazaghe....!

CALZAGHE SURVIVES BIKA WAR

Saturday 14th October 2006

WBO and IBF super-middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe took his unbeaten record to 41 fights with a hard-earned points victory over Sakio Bika at the MEN Arena.

It was one of the more difficult nights of the Welshman's 13-year professional career as Bika attempted to turn the fight into a tear up.

Calzaghe had built up a solid lead during the opening rounds but was hampered by a bad cut above his left eye that was sustained from a clash of heads at the end of the fourth.

The challenger was deducted a point in the fifth for illegal use of the head but responded to that setback by enjoying his best period as Calzaghe was guilty of dropping his hands and showboating.

In the end Calzaghe weathered the storm before coming on strong again at the end, all three judges scoring him the winner by at least five clear rounds.

More soon...

redrus

[Sophon]

Just watched the fight after first watching Mikkel Kessler demolish Markus Beyer in three rounds.

Out of the two Kessler was by far the most impressive tonight, but maybe Calzaghe just had a bad day. Would be interesting to see a unifying fight between the two, my money would be on Kessler.

Sophon

[chonabot]

Calzaghe should have too much for Kessler, no-one has looked good against Bika , he is a spoling fighter who uses every trick in the book , just look at Beyer vs Bika earlier.

[redrus]

.................In the end Calzaghe weathered the storm and before using his superior boxing skills to come on strong again during the final two rounds by using his jab to keep his opponent at a safe distance.

Calzaghe was given a unanimous decision with each judge giving him the decision by at least five clear rounds.

Meanwhile, Mikkel Kessler of Denmark added the WBC version of the super-middleweight world title to the WBA belt he already owned courtesy of a third round knockout of Germany's Markus Bayer.

That opens the way for a potentially lucrative unification contest between Calzaghe and Kessler, while the Welshman also has plenty of options should he finally be willing to travel Stateside.

He was blaming his bad hand and lack of ring sharpness. I think he underestimated Bika and, got a shock that the lad didn't just go down after all Joe's early showboating.....

redrus

[Donz]

I like Joe, he is a good boxer, I dont think he would of beat a prime Roy Jones or Hopkins but he would beat them at this stage of there careers.

Joe and Kessler need to fight, they are the 2 best in the division.

Then the winner faces Mundine