Glenn McCrory is worried for his mate Joe Calzaghe as he puts it all on the line against Roy Jones.
Outside pressures pile up as Calzaghe prepares to bid farewell
There's only one fight to talk about this week - and I've got to say I am a little worried about my old mate Joe Calzaghe.
Don't get me wrong, Joe has always been a super competitor and you can't knock a guy who has been unbeaten, as an amateur or professional, since he was 14.
I know he has ridden his luck and pulled out of a few fights down the years but to stay undefeated that long is something very, very special.
Whatever you think about the decision against Bernard Hopkins - and I happen to think he lost - he went through him. He went through Chris Eubank and a few others and his remarkable career has been fantastic for British boxing.
Now he's going after the one and only Roy Jones Jnr and I am concerned. Seriously concerned.
For a start, the Calzaghes are a homely family. They are all about Newbridge, they don't even like the bright lights of Cardiff! On any given day you know you can find Enzo in the betting shop, they barely leave the place - even after all the fame and fortune boxing has brought them. How are they going to find New York City?
I know they went to Las Vegas for the Hopkins fight, but they did that with Frank Warren promoting. And that's another major worry.
Joe has decided to promote this himself. That means he won't have anything sorted out for him: the travel plans, the hotels, the sparring partners, the gyms will all be down to Team Calzaghe.
That has never happened before. I know Ricky Hatton has done it, but don't forget Ray Hatton does not train his son and even then they have had to get Frank Maloney in and have Golden Boy looking after them in the States.
Interferences
I just wonder what all these outside, unknown pressures will to do Joe. And I can't for the life of me work out why he has decided to take on board all this for what he says is his last fight.
And that worries me too. Normally when I hear a fighter talking about retiring, it means he has retired already, mentally at least. I never like to hear fighters mention the 'r' word in the run-up to a fight, especially one with so much riding on it.
But maybe that's me just worrying. If Joe is on his game, if his head is right and all the outside interferences haven't been that bad, he should beat Roy Jones Jnr. He's going to the city that never sleeps, but he has to be the boxer that never stops. If that happens, he will win and I'll have been going grey for no reason at all.
Even that though depends on what Roy Jones we get. I've no doubt if they'd have had this fight a few years ago, Jones would've won - and I think Joe has said the same. Then again, Roy Jones would have beaten anyone, pound-for-pound on the planet at his peak. He was just superb and rightly reigned supreme.
If he is anything like he was back then, then Joe is in for a tough night. Don't forget that Jones literally popped up to heavyweight to win the world title and back down again and that's when his troubles started. Joe couldn't have done it, but there's no doubt that little venture really took its toll.
He has only had three fights since that losing streak and they weren't against much - Felix Trinidad for instance was shot, there for the taking. But there were glimpses of the old Jones magic, flashes of what made him so special. What if he starts off well and gets the crowd behind him? It's so intriguing.
Unbeaten
I don't think Joe has really been up to speed since he beat Jeff Lacy, but then again if you look at what Hopkins has done to Kelly Pavlik, maybe that puts it into perspective. Maybe Joe goes and wins this easily, maybe I am worrying too much in my old age.
Like I say, all things being equal, Joe would have to be the pick. My heart says it of course - we've been mates for a long time - and I do think that if he wins this and retires 46-0 he will have to go down as the greatest unbeaten British boxer of all time.
But then there's that unbeaten tag again and all I can think of is Larry Holmes, 48-0, just one win away from equalling Rocky Marciano's record and then bang, he gets in with Michael Spinks and the judges take it all away from him.
I just hope the powers-that-be do not have it in for Joe, I hope that Lady Luck - who has, it must be said, smiled on him from time to time in his career - is with him in New York.
Maybe he won't need it. Maybe Roy Jones is over-the-hill and maybe Joe is going to go out in style.
Whatever happens, he has been brilliant for the sport and sport in general in this country. I just hope he can do it for one more fight...
