FORMER undisputed world boxing champ Joe Calzaghe seems to have turned into a
showbiz luvvie.
This one-time punching powerhouse is telling a friend how he was “petrified”
performing a cha cha cha on Strictly Come Dancing.
The boy from a rough Welsh council estate is also sipping a dainty glass of
champagne. All that’s missing is a protruding pinkie.
Joe groans: “Oh this looks bad, me talking about dancing and drinking bubbly
and stuff.
“I’m a boy from the valleys. I normally have a pint of lager. Honest.”
We meet in the plush Glasgow Central Hotel. Joe is 5ft 11in and still in great
shape, with muscles bulging under his tight green T-shirt.
But although he was one cocky bugger in the ring, he’s less sure of himself
out of it, failing to hold eye contact as he glances nervously from side to
side.
Strange considering pound for pound Calzaghe was one of the most fearsome
boxers the UK has ever produced.
Joe — nicknamed The Italian Dragon due to his Sardinia-born dad and Welsh mum
— knocked out 32 opponents and never lost one of his 46 professional fights
during an incredible 11-year reign as super middleweight and light
heavyweight champ.
He smiles: “I actually lost my first ever fight when I was nine years old. I
battered lumps out of this boy, only to be told he’d won. Turns out his dad
was a judge at the fight.”
Joe has turned into a bit of a media tart since his stint on the hit BBC1’s
dance show in 2009.
He ended up dating his gorgeous Russian dance partner Kristina Rihanoff, 33.
The couple now live together in London.
Calzaghe will also try his hand at acting next year with two film role.
But as a pro fighter he spent all his time ducking and diving the limelight.
He explains: “I was an old-school boxer. I never went to parties. I married
and had kids at a young age.
“I was always under pressure to raise my profile but I refused. I only wanted
to train to win.”
But when Joe retired from boxing in 2008 his life went off the rails.
He had been through a messy divorce with his wife Mandy, the mother of his two
sons Joe and Connor.
Then his ex-girlfriend Jo-Emma Larvin did a kiss-and-tell on the former
champ’s cocaine abuse and wild rages.
Joe, now 39, admits he came to a crossroads after hanging up his gloves.
He says: “I retired when I was only 36 and my whole life changed.
“I would get up in the morning and suddenly I wasn’t looking for my next fight
anymore.
“That was the hardest thing to adjust to. I was bored. Retiring hit me hard,
especially when you’ve reached the heights I’d reached.
“I missed the euphoria. I had been hero-worshipped.
“Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger came to my fights and they
wanted to meet me. They treated ME as the star.”
But he steadfastly refused mega-bucks offers to return to the ring.
He shrugs: “I made good money. I’ve looked after it and invested it well so
I’m able to live comfortably. I’m pretty shrewd that way.
“But of course, I could have made millions of pounds more by fighting on.
“Then there was the chance I would have ruined my unbeaten legacy. I could
also have got badly hurt. I didn’t want my kids to see me being put on my
a**e.
“That’s why I was so determined never to make a comeback. I didn’t want to be
like every other fighter. If I went back I would only doing it for the money
and that’s the wrong reason. I fought to be world champion.”
But Joe is curious to see if Cambuslang-born boxer Scott Harrison can mount a
comeback after two and a half years in a Spanish nick.
He says: “Scott’s what, 34 years old? I had my best fights in my mid-30s, so
he’s not over the hill.
“But the big problem is he hasn’t been in the ring for six years.
“I think that’s too long. Being fit is one thing. Being fight fit is another.
Although Scott will be after redemption. A hungry fighter is the best
fighter.”
Now Joe claims his life has focus once more after moving in with his sexy
Strictly Come Dancing partner Kristina.
He says: “The best thing about Strictly was meeting my girlfriend.”
But there must be something about sequins and tangos that has the stars
rushing to do the horizontal mambo.
Along with Joe and Kristina having a quick foxtrot, there’s also been Kara
Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev, Ali Bastian and Brian Fortuna, Matt Di Angelo
and Flavia Cacace . . . and the list goes on.
So maybe Scots cougar Lulu might end her self-imposed man drought on this
year’s series?
Joe laughs: “There’s a lot of intimacy involved when you’re dancing with
someone. So Lulu might well come away with more than she planned.” But Joe
shifts uncomfortably when asked if he’s jealous of Kristina’s current dance
partner — the very flirty Jason Donovan.
He claims: “I’m not jealous of Jason,” before admitting: “Although Kristina
has told me she does
prefer blonds. But I go along to rehearsals to watch them.”
Joe smiles: “Anyway, Jason is married with two kids and stays two miles from
us — so I know where he lives.
“He’s a better dancer than me but I still reckon I could take him out in the
boxing ring.”
But Joe’s enjoying winding up his fellow countryman Robbie Savage, who’s
partnered with Ola Jordan.
He laughs: “Robbie told me, ‘I’ll never be as bad as you were, because you
were s***’.
“Well, I love the fact he’s turned out to be just as s***.”
Joe is now desperate to make his big-screen breakthrough. He’s been lined up
for a role in horror movie Inferno — about a Welsh colliery — with screen
legend John Hurt.
While The Wrestler hardman Mickey Rourke wants Calzaghe to star in his film
about gay Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas.
Joe jokes: “Mickey is a huge boxing fan and a mate. He’s has promised me a
part. But I told him I’d take it — as long as he promises not to make me
Gareth’s gay lover. Funnily enough, I am signed to the Back Door acting
agency.”
But Joe has no plans to go hunting for mythical creatures like 7ft, 23-stone
former WBA heavyweight champ Nikolai Valuev — who spent last month searching
for the Yeti in Siberia.
Joe laughs: “He didn’t have too far to look — he is the Yeti.
“At least he’s got a job after boxing doing Abominable Snowman films.”
Two excited teenage fans approach our table and ask for a photo with Joe.
Me: “Dance fans?”
Joe chuckles: “I spend most of my time talking about my dancing these days.
“It’s honestly as if I’d never been a boxer after going on Strictly.”
The Scottish Sun-sponsored An Evening With Joe Calzaghe takes place at The
Hilton TreeTops Hotel in Aberdeen on November 19 and the Glasgow Hilton the
following night. Tickets from £75. To book call freephone 0800 055 6054. See
worldcelebrityboxing.com for more information.