01-13-2008
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Calzaghe-Hopkins deal finalised
source - bbc sport
Calzaghe-Hopkins deal finalised
 Bernard Hopkins taunted Joe Calzaghe in Las Vegas last month
Joe Calzaghe's super-fight with Bernard Hopkins looks set to go ahead in April, with Las Vegas the likely venue.
Calzaghe's promoter Frank Warren said: "The deal's done and will be confirmed with the venue and date next week."
The undisputed world super-middleweight champion said: "The talks with Hopkins' representatives are almost over, and I've been told it's on 12 April.
"The venue is not set in stone but it does look like the fight will be in Las Vegas," he told the South Wales Argus.
Hopkins, 42, is widely regarded as the best light-heavyweight in the world, and Welshman Calzaghe will step up to 175lb to meet him.
New York had been suggested as a host city, with Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden mooted as venues.
But the extra glitz and capacity offered by the super-hotels and casinos of Las Vegas look to have won the day.
Calzaghe said: "Two that I have heard mentioned in discussions are the MGM Grand, which staged Floyd Mayweather v Ricky Hatton, and also the Mandalay Bay resort."
The pair squared up at the MGM Grand hotel in Vegas last month at the weigh-in for Ricky Hatton v Floyd Mayweather, sowing the seeds for another big British-US clash.
Pound-for-pound great Hopkins said he "would never let a white boy beat me" as he tried to taunt 10-year super-middleweight champion Calzaghe, who laughed off his boasts.
He said: "I went to Las Vegas to support my mate Ricky Hatton and when I met Hopkins he got in my face and taunted me, saying he'd 'never lose to a white boy'.
"Can you imagine if I had made comments like that? I don't think I would have won Sports Personality, that is for sure."
Newbridge-born Calzaghe, 35, has long been after a super-fight against former middleweight king Hopkins, and is now ready to fight in the States.
The Welshman has won all of his 44 fights, with 32 knockouts, and in his last outing he beat Mikkel Kessler to add the WBC and WBA titles to his WBO belt.
Hopkins, known as 'The Executioner', has a record of 48 wins, four defeats and one draw, and is one of only seven men (including Calzaghe) to have held world titles for 10 years.
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