by T.K. Stewart
Enzo Calzaghe, the father and trainer of 'The Pride of Wales' Joe Calzaghe, will lead his son into battle at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night, perhaps for the final time.
The upbeat and outspoken Enzo has no doubt that his son will beat Roy Jones, Jr. Asked for his thoughts only a day before the big fight on what the key is to beating Jones, Enzo was full of confidence.
Asked why he thinks his son will win, the elder Calzaghe broke it down into simple terms.
"Ability, I think is what it is," said Enzo. "I always say this, but we've got plan A, plan B and plan C. Joe can't walk in like a mad man because Jones is too good for that. We'll treat him with respect, not respect as a fighter, but treat him with respect for his ability."
Despite lucrative prospects in the future should he win or lose against Jones tomorrow night, Joe Calzaghe has stated on numerous occasions that the fight against Jones could be his last fight in the ring.
Enzo, however is not convinced that will be the case.
"Look, you're asking me to look into a crystal ball and see the future," said Enzo. "Nobody knows...nobody knows. Anything is possible if the hunger is there and if he starts to miss the gym after six months."
The Calzaghe's have been together as father and son, trainer and fighter, through Joe's entire professional and amateur career and Enzo claims that even after 45 straight pro wins he still sees the hunger and desire in his son who has not lost a fight since he was a teenager.
"If it was up to me, I'd advise him to fight until he was 45 years old with the way that he looks now," says Enzo. "I'm very, very pleased with the way that training camp went. At the end of the day he is better and better all of the time."
Calzaghe, 36, is the betting favorite going into Saturday night's fight and Enzo says there is one reason for that.
"On fight night, Joe possesses one thing that no other boxer that I have ever seen possesses: It's called heart, a heart that is second to none," said Enzo. "It's like I said at the press conference the other day, Joe can be down in the dumps but he always finds a way to win and that's the bottom line.
"The more harder the opponent, the better he performs," continued Enzo. "A lot of these fighters, after a few rounds they start to give up. But Joe, after six rounds, he goes harder, he gets stronger, he goes faster. Like I said, he's been blessed with that heart since he has been eight years old."
Enzo also has no qualms about fighting away from Wales and said after Saturday night they'll sit down and decide what might come next.
"We chose to come here, to America," he proclaims. "We've got a job to do here and after the fight Joe will be 46-0 and we'll go home and talk things over and we'll let you know what's next."
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