Boxing: Calzaghe backs King for crown

WBO super-middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe has backed training partner Nathan King to lift the vacant WBU 168lbs crown against Russian dynamo Eric Teymour at the lavish Hilton Hotel in Mayfair on Wednesday (November 24).

The bout - broadcast exclusively on www.Secondsout.tv - represents the Mountain Ash fighter's first tilt at a major title, but Calzaghe believes King is up to the challenge.

"Nathan hasn't shown his full boxing ability in a competitive fight yet," Calzaghe told Wales on Sunday. "I know Nathan's potential as I've been sparring with him for the last five years or so, but when he's in a competitive fight he doesn't always get going. He has occasionally frozen on the big stage against lesser fighters than him.