ROBIN DAVEY SAYS: Joe on the verge of everlasting fame

12:11pm Tuesday 15th April 2008

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OUR own Joe Calzaghe can take Welsh sporting celebrations to a new level this weekend when he faces ring legend Bernard Hopkins in his own back yard.

Argus columnist Calzaghe can do what no-one else has managed and put the lights out in Las Vegas if he overcomes Hopkins on the famous sunset strip.

It's been one long celebration in Wales for the past month or more as one team or organisation after another has tasted glory - but with all due respect to them they will all take a back seat if Calzaghe triumphs in America.

The road to success was started by the Welsh rugby team when they won the Grand Slam after already clinching the Triple Crown to complete their transformation from World Cup chumps to Northern Hemisphere champs.

That was followed by Cardiff City's feat in reaching the FA Cup final for the first time for 81 years and a second successive trip to Wembley, surely rewarded by a place in the UEFA Cup if they ultimately triumph against Portsmouth, whatever the regulations may say.

Then came the announcement that the totally revamped Sophia Gardens from run-of-the-mill county ground to Test match arena with a 15,000 capacity would be rewarded with the first Test in next summer's Ashes series, with one-day England internationals against Australia and India and a further Test against Sri Lanka in 2011.

And the weekend saw a double Swansea triumph with the City promoted to the Championship after leading the Coca Cola League One since November and the Ospreys landing the EDF Energy Anglo Welsh Cup after a comprehensive victory over English top dogs Leicester.

Now it's Calzaghe's turn and he can really put Wales on the world map by capturing the all-important American market and making heads turn across the pond.

In fact, it's a bit more than that because Calzaghe can earn sporting immortality for himself and Wales when he steps into the ring against Hopkins.

Having despatched his biggest challenger, Dane Mikkel Kessler, in his last fight he has stepped up from super middleweight where he reigned supreme as world champion to light middle where he feels more comfortable, especially for a super fight against Hopkins.

It's likely to earn him a cool £5m, and there might yet be one more before he calls it a day at the ripe old age of 36, bowing to pressure from himself and his family.

Two more big fights, two more massive pay days and two more wins and Joe really would earn boxing immortality, following in the footsteps of the one and only Rocky Marciano by retiring undefeated.

Already one national newspaper is calling Calzaghe one of our national heroes.' And to think that it's only recently that he has earned such recognition whereas now he is on the verge of everlasting fame.