Boxing: Calzaghe Honoured and Told to Fight in America

Joe Calzaghe will be honoured by the United States' premier boxing magazine in Manchester today, when he is to be presented with the Ring Belt recognising his position as the true world super-middleweight champion, but two of the most influential figures in the game have appealed to him to try to become one of the sport's giants by fighting on the other side of the Atlantic.

The undefeated Welshman, who holds the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organisation belts and is the sport's longest-standing world champion, will take part in his 20th title fight on Saturday when he meets the Australia-based Sakio Bika of Cameroon at the MEN Arena. Provided he wins, Calzaghe will be pencilled in for a major fight in February.

In the nine years he has been champion, since beating Chris Eubank to take the vacant WBO title, Calzaghe has never fought in the US but his stunning victory over Jeff Lacy in his last fight, when he produced a brilliant performance to utterly eclipse the highly touted American, has increased the clamour for him to showcase his skills in the States.

Saturday's fight is to be televised by the influential American network HBO as well as by ITV. The head of HBO boxing, its senior vice-president Kery Davis, said: "If we can get Joe Calzaghe in a big enough fight and do it in the hallowed grounds of Madison Square Garden I think many British fans will follow him, and that would be quite a spectacle here in New York."

His sentiments were echoed by Sugar Ray Leonard, perhaps boxing's biggest star in the post-Muhammad Ali era. "He has to come over here, without question, for the American fans to gravitate towards him and so they know who Joe Calzaghe is. Not just boxing fans, but non-boxing fans . . . general sports fans. That's when you transcend the sport, that's when you become bigger than life, and I think Joe Calzaghe has those potentials."

Calzaghe's promoter, Frank Warren, claims he has always made the best possible matches for his fighter and that the biggest names, such as Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins, have gone out of their way to avoid Calzaghe. Also, his career has been badly affected by injuries, particularly with his notoriously fragile hands.

Warren had wanted to capitalise on Calzaghe's win over Lacy with a fight this summer, but a hand injury scuppered that plan. "Of course I'd love to fight in America, but only if it's right. If it's right for me and if I get a right opponent," Calzaghe says in a documentary on ITV4 tomorrow. It is that pragmatic view which has led some to criticise the Welshman, and suggest that he has been over-protected in his long reign as a champion.

The former champion Nigel Benn won the enthusiastic admiration of American fans in 1990 with victories over the noted hard men Doug DeWitt and Iran Barkley. Benn attributes much of his subsequent fame and box office appeal to his willingness to fight on an opponent's territory. "Sometimes you say, 'You know what, I'll cut my money to fight you. That's how confident I am.' These are things you've got to do. You've got juggle it, go round roundabouts, and make the fight," said Benn.