SORRY I missed you last week, but after the huge disappointment of my world title defence against Brian Magee in Belfast being called off at such short notice I decided to chill out for a few days with my girlfriend in Rome to celebrate my birthday.

I'd been there a few times before in my days as an amateur boxer, but had never had a real chance to have a big look around and, given my Italian background it was great to do that.

But now I'm back and raring to go and I have started the build-up to my WBO world super-middleweight title defence against Mario Veit in Germany on May 7 with some light training.

It was important after the Magee fiasco to wind down again and have a break before resuming training for Veit. You can't keep training flat out for weeks on end, both from a physical and mental viewpoint.

I was in superb shape for the Magee fight and still feel great, but I have to just forget about that happened in Belfast. I had never been in the situation I was there and it was hard to take in.

You don't get paid for training, only for fighting, and I'd done all the hard work, made the sacrifice, made the weight and got nothing for it, except it put me in brilliant shape for Veit.

I knew there was a bit of a problem a week before the Magee show when the Veit contest was fixed for May 7 because I was aware of the sixty-day rule, but everyone expected it to be waived.

I could have gone ahead with the Magee fight, but it would have meant me relinquishing my title and there was no way I was going to do that. World champions don't give their titles away. They have to be taken from them.

If it was for a super fight, then maybe. Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver did that to enable them to fight to prove who was the best light-heavyweight in the world, but Magee isn't in that bracket.

It was very annoying when Irish television interviewed me and said they thought the reason for the cancellation was that I couldn't make the weight.

That was ridiculous. There was no way I would go all the way to Ireland and not make the weight. In fact I was only 2lb over the limit two days beforehand and that's the best I'd been for a long time.

Going back to Veit, make no mistake, he is a lot better fighter than when I knocked him out in a round four years ago and I'm not even thinking about that result.

When I fought him in Cardiff I caught him cold and since then he's won 15 on the trot (taking his record to 45 wins and just the one loss), including a nine-round stoppage of American Charles Brewer, something I couldn't do.

I'm also going to his place to fight and in Germany they can be a bit biased with the judges and so on, so I have got to make sure the judges won't be brought into it, apart from the referee being able to count to ten.

I don't think I'll knock him out in a round this time, but I definitely expect to stop the guy because physically I feel the best I have felt for a couple of years.

Looking to the future, I'm disappointed new IBF light-heavyweight champion Clinton Woods is looking to fight Roy Jones junior, a has-been now.

Woods has claimed I've lost credibility and am trying to jump on his bandwagon, but that's a joke.

Woods had three shots at winning the world title before succeeding and who did he beat, Rico Hoye.

Hoye was absolute rubbish. He looked like a raw novice and how he got to be number one contender I'll never know. He made Woods look good.

A Woods/Joe Calzaghe fight is one the British public want to see.

It's a natural fight to put together.