LONDON (AFP) — Undisputed super-middle weight champion Joe Calzaghe of Wales will fight American Bernard Hopkins in a non-title light-heavyweight bout in Las Vegas on April 19.
A win would propel the WBC, WBA and WBO super-middleweight title holder, who turns 36 in March and has admitted he is close to retiring, into a possible career finale against Roy Jones Jnr or Jermain Taylor.
That would ensure Calzaghe's place in boxing's hall of fame, following on from a year in which he was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
He has already intimated that he would love his swansong to take place at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York where his Italian heritage would secure a rapturous reception.
For that to happen he would first have to take care of Hopkins, who has claimed he would "never lose to a white man".
But Calzaghe insisted: "I want to look back on my career and say I was one of the best.
"This is a dream come true. People always ask me 'when are you going to America?' and now they've got their answer," said Calzaghe, unbeaten in 44 fights and who was crowned undisputed champion in November after he outpointed Denmark's Mikkel Kessler.
"I won't be taking Hopkins lightly, but I believe I have the tools to beat him," he said of the 43-year-old American who 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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