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Hopkins taunts Calzaghe

Pair match each other pound for pound at weigh-in

Last updated: 20th April 2008

Hopkins (L) & Calzaghe

1/3 Calzaghe 12/5 Hopkins 16/1 Draw
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Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins went nose-to-nose for the final time before their light-heavyweight clash in Las Vegas on Sunday morning at Friday's weigh-in.

The pair both tipped the scales at 173lb - two pounds under the limit - before tempers flared with Hopkins threatening the Welshman with the line 'I'm going to bust your heart'.

More than 2,000 British fans were present at Planet Hollywood with a further 6,000 expected to attend the fight at the nearby Thomas & Mack Center.

Calzaghe was, for the first time in the build-up, ruffled by Hopkins' taunts, which pleased promoter Frank Warren.

"That is exactly what I wanted to see," he said. "Joe has never been better prepared and I'm confident he will do the job in style."

Calzaghe insists his speed, power and youth - he is seven years younger than Hopkins at 36 - will enable him to adapt to combat any threat thrown at him by the veteran Philadelphian.

"It's up to me not to get drawn into his kind of fight because I am by far the better fighter," he said. "If I allow myself to do that, then I've made a big mistake.

"Bernard is very well schooled. He'll have done his homework and he knows how I like fighters to come to me. He could make it a dirty fight. But as long as I fight to the standards I did against Jeff Lacy and Kessler, it's over.

"Fighting out here has always been my destiny, and now is the perfect time to do it. I could have come over here five years ago but I might not have handled it as well as I am now."