"You can't beat boxing in front of the Stoke people, " he told BBC Radio Stoke.

BBC: Lawton excited by return to Stoke

The project is called New Music 20x12 which covers a wide range of genres from contemporary classical, folk and opera in Scotland and Northern Ireland to bell ringing, beat boxing, jazz and brass band music in England and Wales.

BBC: Wonderbrass

He made history in 1984 when he beat Wilfredo Gomez to be crowned the World Boxing Council Featherweight champion.

CNN: Is Azumah Nelson Africa's greatest boxer?

Should Calzaghe beat Jones, he will secure the ultimate boxing immortality of retiring unbeaten - an achievement that proved beyond some of the greatest names in the sport's history.

BBC: Calzaghe ready to cement legacy

The Furniture Village chain - which, as a vendor of big-ticket durable goods, is particularly sensitive to consumer frugality - reported almost a thousand transactions at its 40 stores by mid-afternoon on Boxing Day, putting it on course to beat the 1, 200 sales it closed on the same day in 2011.

BBC: Boxing Day sales: Shoppers flock to stores

Showtime and others outside the network insist the Guerrero fight will narrowly beat the one million mark once everything is counted, while other boxing insiders told Forbes that the fight is likely to top out at 875, 000 buys.

FORBES: Canelo Alvarez Could Be Floyd Mayweather's Biggest Payday Ever

In chess, as in heavyweight boxing, the people's champion is the contender who beat the previous champion.

ECONOMIST: World chess championship

The 36-year-old, who beat Chris Eubank to win the WBO super-middleweight title in 1997, has been Welsh boxing's leading light for so long.

BBC: Maccarinelli inspired by Calzaghe