JOE Calzaghe is tipping his former sparring partner to shine brightest on one of Welsh sport’s biggest weekends.

An unprecedented succession of contests sees Wales head to Twickenham in the RBS Six Nations on Saturday afternoon, Cardiff face off with Liverpool at Wembley in the Carling Cup final on Sunday and Cleverly make his first appearance in Wales for four years on a bumper night at the Motorpoint Arena on Saturday.

With Swansea also in Premier League action and Newport County bidding to close in on a Wembley appearance in the FA Trophy, not to mention a full RaboDirect Pro12 programme, it is enough to have any fan of sport this side of the Severn Bridge salivating.

However, despite the stage being set for the likes of Sam Warburton, Craig Bellamy and Kenny Miller, Wales’ greatest ever world champion believes his protégé will be the one everyone is talking about come Monday morning.

WBO champion Cleverly defends his light-heavyweight title against American Tommy Karpency and after a four-year hiatus from Wales, Calzaghe is expecting big things from his former Team Calzaghe teammate.

“Nathan has an opportunity, a bigger opportunity than most people realise to be fair,” Calzaghe said.

“He has been a model professional in his career and has done really, really well by going to other fighters’ backyards and maintaining his unbeaten record.

“But now he’s coming home and it’s vital he puts on a great show to say thank you to the Welsh public.

“Boxing in Wales is always brilliantly supported and Nathan is the man now, he is the flag bearer for boxing in Wales.

“If he puts on a memorable performance and the atmosphere is as good as it can be in that arena then it sets Nathan up well. Frank Warren will only make big fights in Wales if the public gets fully behind Nathan and he has a chance to make sure that happens.

“It’s a massive weekend of sport for Wales with all the football and rugby, but I think Nathan can be the star turn. If he’s at his best, everyone will be talking about him.”

Calzaghe will be ringside on Saturday to support his friend and admits it will evoke some strong memories. And he’s adamant that if Cleverly wins well, that translates to a win for Welsh boxing as a whole.

“For around half my career my best nights were in Cardiff, I had some absolute belters,” he said.

“Fights with the likes of Byron Mitchell and Charles Brewer were some of my toughest and it was always a massive help having such ferocious support.

“Those evenings helped me build up my fanbase and they really shaped how my career went from there. If Nathan proves to be a big ticket seller (the event is close to being a sell-out) and puts in a performance that makes people want to come back and see him, it will benefit everyone involved in boxing in Wales,” he added.

“Some of the boys on the undercard can get some great fights and big purses if Nathan keeps bringing big time boxing back here.

“I was able to do that previously and now it’s Nathan’s time.”