Jokes, verbal jabs thrown

Beware of Welshmen bearing gifts.

That was Bernard Hopkins' attitude when Enzo Calzaghe approached him during Wednesday's news conference at Planet Hollywood to hype Saturday's light heavyweight title fight between Hopkins and Joe Calzaghe at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"We always bring a present when we come over from Wales, " said Enzo, Joe's father and trainer. He proceeded to hand the 43-year-old Hopkins a walking cane.

"I was going to bring you a rocking chair, but it was too heavy," he said to Hopkins.

Hopkins at first refused the offering.

"I don't take presents from my enemies," he said. But a couple of minutes later, he relented and good-naturedly accepted Calzaghe's gift.

"I'm upset that nobody gave me any Viagra," Hopkins said jokingly.

As expected, there were a few verbal shots hurled back and forth between the two fighters. After all, there has been a lot of trash talking going back to November, long before the fight was signed. Calzaghe (44-0) said not only will he beat Hopkins (48-4-1), he will be the first fighter to knock him out.

"He's been beaten, but he's never been stopped," Calzaghe said. "That's what I plan to do Saturday."

Frank Warren, Calzaghe's promoter, challenged Hopkins to sell some tickets to Saturday's fight.

When Hopkins boasted of drawing sellout crowds in France and Ecuador, Warren chided, "Maybe we should've held this fight in Ecuador."

The only time things got remotely nasty was when Hopkins pulled out the race card, saying the fight is as simple as black and white.

"It's always a race issue when it's black vs. white," Hopkins said. "Everyone is waiting for the next Great White Hope."

After Calzaghe called out Hopkins following his win over Mikkel Kessler in November, Hopkins verbally assaulted him when the two met face-to-face the day before Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s Dec. 8 fight with Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand. Hopkins said that day he couldn't face his friends back home in Philadelphia if he lost to a white guy.

On Wednesday, Hopkins was still talking race.

"It's a cultural fight for me," Hopkins said. "Unless you've been where I'm from, been through what I've been through, you wouldn't understand."

Calzaghe never has let the race card faze him.

"We called each other out, and it created some controversy," Calzaghe said. "He talks a good one, but at the end of the day, it's about who can fight and who can't. He's lost four fights, and he's 43. He lost to someone (Jermain Taylor) who doesn't even want to fight.

"My dad always told me to respect my elders, but not on Saturday night."

• NOTES -- Calzaghe was minus-270 at the Planet Hollywood race and sports book Wednesday to take Hopkins' Ring Magazine title, and with about 9,000 of his fans expected to attend the fight, he could wind up a 3-1 favorite by Saturday. ... Friday's weigh-in is open to the public and will take place at Planet Hollywood's Theatre of Performing Arts at 2:30 p.m. The weigh-in will be streamed live over the Internet on HBO.com. ... Expect Hopkins to be on his best behavior at the weigh-in. The last time Hopkins fought in Nevada, he physically attacked Winky Wright during the weigh-in for their July 2007 fight. The Nevada Athletic Commission fined him $250,000 for initiating the fracas.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.