Calzaghe ready for showdown

Both men tipped the scales two pounds under the light-heavy limit at 173lbs and posed with heads touching at the traditional stand-off before Hopkins jabbed at the Welshman's chest and snarled: "I'm going to bust your heart".

Calzaghe snapped back with a few verbal barbs of his own before being ushered away to begin the countdown to a contest which will establish the winner's status as an all-time great.

The Welshman has laughed off Hopkins' incessant trash talk all week but was plainly a little perturbed by his opponent's latest boast, much to the delight of over two thousand British fans in the Planet Hollywood auditorium.

And his first show of aggression delighted promoter Frank Warren, who said: "That is exactly what I wanted to see. Joe has never been better prepared and I'm confident he will do the job in style."

Common consensus is that Hopkins has the ability to sucker Calzaghe into his type of fight and make it a scrappy affair like the contests against Kabary Salem and Sakio Bika that gave the Welshman nightmares.

But 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.

Calzaghe said: "I can combat any style. It's up to me not to get drawn into his kind of fight because I am by far the better fighter. 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."