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Written By William Trillo & Nat Gottlieb
Librado Andrade may not have many fans in the crowd when he fights Danish Mikkel Kessler on March 24 in Denmark, but he has a strong rooting interest in England.
Pound4Pound has learned that both Joe Calzaghe and his powerful promoter, Frank Warren, are "rooting hard for Andrade" to win, according to a high-placed Brit source.
The reason? Calzaghe's long-time dream of a title fight in the U.S. is starting to slip away. Calzaghe wanted to fight Bernard Hopkins, but our source said "Golden Boy did everything it could to keep Hopkins away from Calzaghe. They wouldn't even discuss it when Frank flew to L.A. for a meeting."
Winky Wright was another choice of Calzaghe for an American fight, but with Hopkins tentatively slated to fight Winky in July, that eliminates him.
Calzaghe's last hope, Jermain Taylor, is not ready to move up in weight class this summer to fight the unbeaten Brit because sources close to the Taylor camp feel the middleweight champ has taken steps backwards in his development in his last two bouts, a draw against Wright, and then a lacklustre victory over pumped up junior middleweight Kassim Ouma.
"Andrade is the ONLY summer fight that brings Joe to the U.S., since Hopkins, Taylor and Wright are going in other directions," our Brit source said emphatically.
Another reason Calzaghe and Warren will be rooting for Andrade is they think making a fight with Kessler would be a huge headache. "They feel a fight with Andrade can be made easily, as opposed to locking horns with Kessler's promotion group (Team Palle)," our source said.
In a recent interview with IcWales, the Welsh Calzaghe said even if a fight with Kessler could be arranged, it wouldn't appeal to American fans.
"Americans want fighters they know and they don't know Kessler," Calzaghe told IcWales. "If America wanted me to fight Kessler, I'd do it."
Calzaghe also said it would be very difficult to make a fight in Europe with Kessler, because "Kessler doesn't want to leave Denmark and I'm not fighting over there."
Calzaghe wondered if his dream of fighting in America would ever come true.
"It's up to my promoter to make my dream fight in the States happen. Unfortunately, I'm around at the wrong time," Calzaghe said.
Which is why Joe and Frank are going to church praying for Andrade to win.
Although Andrade himself is largely unknown, our source says because of his Mexican background, it would be a big sell in the Latino community. "Mexicans will pack this fight with Calzaghe if it is done right and in the right place, Southern California or Texas. Calzaghe will be hated (by Mexicans) just as much as Pacquiao and Roach are south of the border (for beating Morales and Barrera)."
Librado Andrade may not have many fans in the crowd when he fights Danish Mikkel Kessler on March 24 in Denmark, but he has a strong rooting interest in England.
Pound4Pound has learned that both Joe Calzaghe and his powerful promoter, Frank Warren, are "rooting hard for Andrade" to win, according to a high-placed Brit source.
The reason? Calzaghe's long-time dream of a title fight in the U.S. is starting to slip away. Calzaghe wanted to fight Bernard Hopkins, but our source said "Golden Boy did everything it could to keep Hopkins away from Calzaghe. They wouldn't even discuss it when Frank flew to L.A. for a meeting."
Winky Wright was another choice of Calzaghe for an American fight, but with Hopkins tentatively slated to fight Winky in July, that eliminates him.
Calzaghe's last hope, Jermain Taylor, is not ready to move up in weight class this summer to fight the unbeaten Brit because sources close to the Taylor camp feel the middleweight champ has taken steps backwards in his development in his last two bouts, a draw against Wright, and then a lacklustre victory over pumped up junior middleweight Kassim Ouma.
"Andrade is the ONLY summer fight that brings Joe to the U.S., since Hopkins, Taylor and Wright are going in other directions," our Brit source said emphatically.
Another reason Calzaghe and Warren will be rooting for Andrade is they think making a fight with Kessler would be a huge headache. "They feel a fight with Andrade can be made easily, as opposed to locking horns with Kessler's promotion group (Team Palle)," our source said.
In a recent interview with IcWales, the Welsh Calzaghe said even if a fight with Kessler could be arranged, it wouldn't appeal to American fans.
"Americans want fighters they know and they don't know Kessler," Calzaghe told IcWales. "If America wanted me to fight Kessler, I'd do it."
Calzaghe also said it would be very difficult to make a fight in Europe with Kessler, because "Kessler doesn't want to leave Denmark and I'm not fighting over there."
Calzaghe wondered if his dream of fighting in America would ever come true.
"It's up to my promoter to make my dream fight in the States happen. Unfortunately, I'm around at the wrong time," Calzaghe said.
Which is why Joe and Frank are going to church praying for Andrade to win.
Although Andrade himself is largely unknown, our source says because of his Mexican background, it would be a big sell in the Latino community. "Mexicans will pack this fight with Calzaghe if it is done right and in the right place, Southern California or Texas. Calzaghe will be hated (by Mexicans) just as much as Pacquiao and Roach are south of the border (for beating Morales and Barrera)."
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