Welshman Joe Calzaghe and American Bernard Hopkins weigh-in for their much
anticipated light-heavyweight bout on Saturday in Las Vegas. 

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA (APRIL 18,2008) VNR-

 Bernard Hopkins is known as 'The Executioner' but he is happy to be
the underdog for Saturday's (April 19) light-heavyweight clash with Joe
Calzaghe.
    Calzaghe's prodigious output, combined with Hopkins' conservative style
and the American's age of 43, means that the quick-punching Welshman has been
installed as the bookmakers' favorite for his Las Vegas debut.
    Hopkins, who turned to boxing after being sent to prison as a
17-year-old, and his opponent have between them fought 46 world title bouts.
Each will face an entirely new challenge this time, however.
    Calzaghe, 44-0 with 32 KOs, has yet to face an opponent with the
big-fight experience of Hopkins -- whose resume includes contests against Roy
Jones, Jermain Taylor, Felix Trinidad and Oscar De la Hoya.
    Hopkins has never fought a man who throws more than 1,000 punches in a
fight, as Calzaghe did against Denmark's Mikkel Kessler in November. 
    Hopkins (48-4-1 with 32 KOs) has lost just twice since 1993 while
Calzaghe, unbeaten as a professional, has held a super middleweight belt since
1997.
    Hopkins won the IBF middleweight belt in 1995 and moved up to
light-heavyweight in 2006, taking the title from Antonio Tarver and defending
it in 2007 against Winky Wright.
    Ten years after winning the WBO super-middleweight title, Calzaghe
added the WBA and WBC crowns when he outpointed Kessler.
    After defeating Kessler, Calzaghe told reporters that "the obvious
thing was to fight at light-heavyweight and who else to fight but Bernard
Hopkins? He's been champion himself for nearly 10 years at middleweight."