ALLIANCE BUILT ON TRUST

Joe Calzaghe doesn't know any other way.

From the first time he laced up a pair of boxing gloves at age 9, his father, Enzo, has been in his corner, training him, giving him the guidance he needed to become a world champion.

Now 36 and preparing for the fight he believes will confirm his greatness, the undefeated Calzaghe isn't about to go in a different direction as he prepares to meet Bernard Hopkins on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"Why change now?" he asked rhetorically. "It's worked out pretty good so far, hasn't it?"

It's hard to argue given Calzaghe, who is moving up to light heavyweight for his first bout in the United States, is 44-0. He has been world champion going on 11 straight years and has 21 successful title defenses as a super middleweight.

And Enzo Calzaghe has been along for every mile of the long journey.

The sport is full of tales of father-son combinations that have soured. Oscar De La Hoya and his father, Joel, had an acrimonious parting of ways. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his dad, Floyd Sr., are not on speaking terms. For a while, Shane Mosley and his father, Jack, were on the outs.

So how have Joe and Enzo managed to not only maintain a relationship but share in the success Joe has had inside the ring?

"I know when he's my trainer, and I know when he's my dad," Calzaghe said at Planet Hollywood. "We've had our ups and downs just like any father and son. But we do our best work together, and I've trusted him to do right by me -- and he has."

Enzo Calzaghe said the partnership works because of the trust each has in the other.

"I think it's the honesty," he said. "The fact is I didn't put on a pair of gloves and didn't ask to be a trainer for him. I had trained other fighters, and Joe saw that, and he said, 'I know what my dad is doing.' He came to me and asked me to train him."

Enzo Calzaghe never fought professionally. He wanted to be a soccer player, but he learned how to fight as a youngster. Enzo also studied the careers of three legendary fighters -- Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler -- and took the best of each in teaching Joe how to fight.

"I wanted to learn from the best so my son could learn to be the best," Enzo Calzaghe said.

But training your own flesh and blood is different from training someone else's son.

"I have no difference whatsoever in my heart (toward) Joe or some other boxer," Enzo Calzaghe said. "I treat them all the same. I feel the same emotions. ... I didn't take him on as a reward as a father.

"... I'm good at what I do. Not as a father, I'm good because I'm a trainer, first and foremost. Father is second, to be honest. When you can be a father, be a father. But in the ring, I'm purely a trainer, and he sees me purely as a trainer, nothing to do with being his father. So it's never a problem."

The Boxing Writers Association of America selected Enzo Calzaghe as its 2007 Trainer of the Year. In addition to his son, he has trained former champions Enzo Maccarinelli and Gavin Rees. He also will be working middleweight Gary Lockett's corner when he fights Kelly Pavlik on June 7 in Atlantic City.

"I've got a proven track record of success," Enzo Calzaghe said. "It's not just with Joe."

The long journey Joe and Enzo have traveled together has brought them closer.

"I have two girls, and I love them to death," Enzo Calzaghe said. "But Joe's my eldest. He is the first of the new breed of Calzaghes. We've done everything together."

Joe Calzaghe said his loyalty to his father supersedes any impulse to go in a different direction when it comes to being trained inside the ring.

"He's proven he's a great trainer. He deserves the accolades," Joe Calzaghe said. "When we're in the gym, it's all business. When we're outside the gym, we don't even talk about boxing. We hang out, and we enjoy each other's company. At the end of the day, he's been ultimate in my success and getting to the top."

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