JOE CALZAGHE SAYS: Vegas was great but Cortez let me down

12:27pm Friday 9th May 2008

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I AM back in Wales after a brilliant holiday in the Caribbean and, masochist that I am, I have already been to our gym and had a few rounds on the bags.

Last time I wrote this column was a fortnight ago and I did it from the airport on route to my holiday, the few days after my Las Vegas super fight with Bernard Hopkins were incredibly hectic.

It's been nice to get away, but one of the first things I did after returning was watch the Hopkins fight again.

It was a difficult fight and because it was a difficult fight I gave him respect afterwards in the press conference.

I was very surprised he didn't say anything nice about me because I thought we had become very close.

Throughout the fight Hopkins was holding me and hugging me and I just presumed we had really bonded!

At the end of the day I regret showing him so much grace afterwards when he didn't do the same thing, but deep down I do respect the guy.

He caught me in the first round and I went down, it was a clean shot but it didn't hurt me.

I was up very quickly, I felt embarrassed but after that I think I dominated the fight.

He was going backwards and I was going forwards, I spent rounds trying to chase him down while he ran away or hugged me.

He also feigned a low blow in order to buy himself some time and Joe Cortez let him get away with it.

I only tapped him, above the belt line, but he was absolutely finished by then.

He needed the breather and I honestly believe I might have stopped him if Cortez had called him on it. He was finished.

At the end of the day Joe Cortez shouldn't ever referee a British against American fight ever again.

I had a lot of respect for Joe, but he didn't let Ricky Hatton get away with anything against Floyd Mayweather and the opposite was true with Hopkins.

Hopkins got away with loads of dirty tricks and twice Cortez let him stop the fight for no good reason.

I was the aggressor, but all within the rules and Hopkins took advantage big time.

I got careless in the first minute but that happens.

I was fighting in America for the first time, I had everything against me and I showed that I am a true champion.

I enjoyed every minute of my time in the USA it really was a fabulous experience.

A true champion travels and wins and nothing got to me, if anything I was too relaxed and felt too at home.

I have so many memories from my time there that I will cherish forever.

After the fight I got to celebrate with a lot of fans in Planet Hollywood, even Sly Stallone turned up!

He was standing on a table with a microphone and got everyone to shout my name, it was an incredible gesture from him.

The way the fans turned out in force for the weigh-in, the atmosphere on the night of the fight, those were two massive highlights.

My fans set a brilliant tone by not booing the American national anthem, all the Americans I met were full of praise for the British fans that came over, particularly the Welsh.

I also met some real superstars out there, Tom Jones, Al Pacino, Stallone, Bruce Willis and Michael J Fox.

The weird thing was them treating me like I was the big deal, very bizarre.

Michael J Fox especially was a really great guy, I met him a couple of times and he is clearly a huge fight fan, very knowledgeable.

Overall I think we got our preparation absolutely spot on during our two and a half weeks in Las Vegas. The villa we had was perfect and the only times I saw the Vegas strip before the fight was when I had to do press events.

It was an absolutely unforgettable experience for me; I really want to thank everyone for their support.

Anyway, now I am back and looking forward to a winter fight, maybe, probably, possibly my last ever fight.

I am now an undisputed two weight world champion and as such I am in no rush whatsoever to make any decisions on the future.

All the guys in my gym will likely fight before I do, so at the moment the attention should be on Gary Lockett and then Bradley Pryce, our next two fighters in action.

I have achieved everything I wanted to achieve in my career, but I still have the skills and speed to get things done in the ring and my next fight will be a big one without a doubt.

Roy Jones Jnr is certainly a possibility, but I am focused on the money more than anything, if it is my last fight I want the biggest pay-day possible against a credible opponent who people will want to watch fight.

This next one will be for me and for the fans, because I want to go out on top.

Just a brief note to finish, some of you may have seen pictures of my girlfriend Jo-Emma and I in Barbados.

It was the first time I have ever seen paparazzi when I've been on holiday.

I didn't know I had hit any headlines over here but I understand Jo Emma and I were pictured at a jewellery shop.

The words with the picture suggested we were picking out rings for you know what, but it's a case of putting two and two together and getting five.

The truth is I was in there buying a watch and it wasn't even for Jo Emma, it was for me!

I am not complaining about the paparazzi though, at the end of the day my profile is bigger because I get on well with the newspaper guys, so I can't complain about attention outside of the ring, even if I was on holiday!