Calzaghe training hope for Jeffries

Apr 30 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

ENZO Calzaghe could help Tony Jeffries’ Olympic bid by inviting the Sunderland fighter to his Newbridge base.

Calzaghe is best known as the father of world light-heavyweight champion Joe but is a top trainer in his own right, with a stable including his son, Enzo Maccarinelli and Gavin Rees. Jeffries is hoping to tap into his vast experience before heading to China.

“There’s talk I might go down to train with Enzo Calzaghe’s team,” 23-year-old Jeffries revealed. “He’s got a handful of good fighters and a good reputation for training.

“After training at the Institute of Sport in Sheffield all that time it does get a bit boring. It’s got brilliant facilities and everything’s spot on but when you’re training there three or four times a day it would be good for a change. It’s more experience of different types of training and they can see different things.

“At the moment I’m sparring with the GB lads who’ve qualified, the middleweight James Degale and the heavyweight Danny Price,” he said. “We’ve got a lad Warren Baister who’s just reached the ABA finals and I’ve been training with him when I’m in Sunderland. So I’m getting some good sparring.”

As well as taking tips from his father, Jeffries intends to draw inspiration from the younger Calzaghe. Jeffries is weighing up whether to turn pro on the back of Beijing or remain amateur in the hope of fighting at London in 2012. He will be 27 by then – young in professional terms.

“Joe Calzaghe’s my weight, he’s 36,” Jeffries noted. “He’s a little bit past his peak but it shows I’ve got plenty of time if I was to stay amateur.”

Jeffries is fully aware his main threats at the Olympics will come from countries those outside of boxing would not expect.

“Abbos Atoev from Uzbekistan and Artur Beterbiev of Russia were the finalists at the World Championships, they’re the best two and there’s a lad from the Ukraine,” he said of his main challengers.

“People don’t think Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are good boxing countries. I got back from the World Championships and I was telling my mates I lost to someone from Kazakhstan (Yerkebuian Shynaliyev). They thought I’d lost to Borat!”