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Well Joe, it’s easier to get hold of Osama Bin Laden than it is you.
Sorry about that, with one thing and another I get quite busy.
It was certainly less hassle getting hold of you earlier in your career.
A lot has changed since then!
You’re practically an old man now, what is it, 35?
Yeah, but I wouldn’t say I was an old man. I’ve had a long career, but watch me against Kessler, you'll see I’m not old.
OK, you’re not old, but your career is in its twilight and there’s more to look back on than there is to look ahead at. Have you any regrets? Or is that a question you’re tired of?
It’s no secret that I want my name, my legacy, to stick around. I want people to talk about me in the future. No shame in that. My problem, you all know, is I haven’t had that many super-fights. That’s the regret. Look at (Ricky) Hatton, he’s got (Floyd) Mayweather coming up. That’s the huge kind of fight I’ve always wanted. I’ve had a few, not enough though. Whatever big names there have been in this division have run away from me. What can you do if people won’t fight you?
So it worries you people won’t regard you as highly as you deserve?
No, people saw me against Jeff Lacy. People said I’d lose, that Lacy was the best. I beat him up. In style, too. When people look at me as a fighter, look at my skills, they will see what they need to see. I’m content that I’ve delivered enough great performances to warrant respect. It isn’t my fault people like Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor and whoever else won’t fight me. What I do know is I’ve not lost a fight since I went over to Czechoslovakia with the amateurs in 1990. What I also know is that in the last 17 years, I’ve been world champion for 10 of those years and beaten seven former world champions in that time. All in all I can sleep at night.
Now someone is willing to fight you and, you must admit, Kessler is pretty good.
Kessler is a brilliant fighter. I’ll put my hands up and say that. Look at his record (39 fights, 39 wins). He is a legitimate world champion and he’ll show that against me. As I’ve said before, this fight, I reckon, will be my toughest.
What kind of fight can we expect?
I don’t reckon it’ll be a scrap, he’s more your typical European stand-up fighter - great boxing skills, straight lines, good punch - but I’m prepared for anything. If he wants to scrap, bring it on! He’ll bring the best out of me whatever way we go at it. I always fight better against better fighters. Look at Peter Manfredo and Sakio Bika, I wasn’t good against those guys. I didn’t respect them enough. But look at Lacy, the genuine quality; I turned it on. When I have to be at my best, I pull it out.
If you win it'll be your 21st title defence and you’ll level Sven Ottke’s divisional record. Significant?
I’m interested in my legacy, but not records like that. If I was, I’d do what Ottke did and fight a bunch of nobodies and pad out my record. Then I’d retire. No, that’s not what I want. I want people to say how good I was. I want to go out unbeaten. I am willing to fight the best fighters and go anywhere to do it. Ottke never left Germany, fought nobodies and got a load of dodgy decisions. It's about the fighter not his 'record'.
Will you retire if Kessler beats you?
I don’t know, is the honest answer. First of all, I don’t think he will beat me. Secondly, I don’t ever think about the possibility that he or anyone else might. You can’t think like that as a boxer, it’s not healthy. All of us, in the back of our minds, are scared it could happen, of course it could, but you don’t think about it! Obviously, if I lost that would wipe out the unbeaten record and that’s important to me. What’s important now is that I feel fit and strong. I really haven’t felt better. I’m quick, I’m sharp and I’m punching hard. I could go on until I’m 40. The things that stop you are your legs - and mine are fine.
And how many big punches have landed on your face?
Well, not many people have managed to do that. As it stands, I will fight Kessler and then try and get Hopkins and Taylor. At light-heavyweight if I need to. I will retire when the time is right.
When that day comes, will you succeed where most boxers fail and stay retired?
It’d take a big pay to drag me out of retirement to get my ass kicked when I have called it a day!
What are your plans for when you do quit?
Well, I don’t have enough money to buy a football team or an island but I’ve got a few ideas. It’ll have to be something to do with boxing. The sport’s in my heart. I might do some coaching like my dad (Enzo, his coach), or some commentary. I don’t know, I might even do a bit of promotion like Oscar De La Hoya. You don’t know. There are a few things I could do outside the sport. I’m interested in the property market and I’ve got a few places in Europe and Dubai. I like to manage my own money so investment is something I’ll keep on looking at.
Will you miss fighting?
The sport means different things to different fighters. Most of us start determined to claw ourselves out of some life and into a new one; win or die kind of thing, and I was no different. What normally happens then is you make a lot of money, pay off your mortgage and you don’t really need to do the pain-in-the-arse runs in the morning or get smacked in the face. You get comfortable and take your foot off the gas. Me? I love the sport. Losing three stone for a fight isn’t fun, like running in the rain, but it’s the thrill, the adrenaline. I love it. It’s the person I am, no doubt about that. I don’t reckon I could keep going in it if I didn’t. This sport is tough and it's lonely; no teammates to hide behind. If you go training at the gym and only do eight rounds instead of 12, you’re going to get found out in that ring on fight night. You need to love it. Anyway, enough talk of retirement. I’ve got a helluva lot more punches still in me.
Is that a warning for Kessler?
It's whatever he wants it to be. But if he doesn't watch out he will get hurt!

Joe talks exclusively to Richie McGowan about his forthcoming world title defence against Mikkel Kessler

READY FOR A FIGHT