JOE Calzaghe turned up the heat for his battle against Bernard Hopkins when he accused his American opponent of being an idiot'' for making a racial slur recently.

Hopkins has been reported as saying: I'll never let a white boy beat me. Never.'' But Calzaghe, whose Ring Magazine world light heavyweight fight with Hopkins will take place on April 19 at the Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas, dismissed the racist element of Hopkins' comments.

Calzaghe said: That didn't hack me off. It was embarrassing for himself. He made himself look an idiot.

I'm not offended because I know what's going to happen. I'm not bothered if it's a black guy, a green guy, a yellow guy or any kind of colour. I'm just not going to lose full stop.

It is just a stupid comment from an adult. It doesn't get under my skin at all because when he gets in the ring he's going to get beaten, full stop.'' It was typically no-nonsense talk from Calzaghe who is surfing a wave of euphoria following a brilliant year in 2007 in which he picked up £3m for beating Mikkel Kessler and went on to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

At 35 and undefeated in more than 14 years as a professional Calzaghe will be moving up a weight to take on 43-year-old Hopkins.

A £5m career-best pay day is the prize, but it is the lure of America which has finally seduced Calzaghe, who has been criticised in some quarters for being reluctant to fight outside Britain.

The experience of sitting ringside while watching his big pal Ricky Hatton take on Floyd Mayweather last month was also a big factor in taking a fight against a man who has been in the ring with Roy Jones Jnr and Jermain Taylor and knocked out Oscar de la Hoya.

Calzaghe said: Going to watch the Ricky Hatton fight and seeing the tremendous support from the British fans really told me I had to get a fight in the States before I retire. It was an amazing reception.

Ricky fought a brilliant fight but, believe me, British fans this time are going to see a win and a spectacular win.

You're going to see Joe Calzaghe smashing the hell out of whatsisname, Mary Poppins.'' Around 5,000 tickets go on sale to British fans in a fortnight's time for a venue which holds 18,000.