WORLD champion Joe Calzaghe is on a mission to shake off his Cardiff Castle cruncher when he takes on experienced American Thomas Tate in December, writes Carson Wishart.

And a successful 12th defence of his WBO super-middleweight crown could lead to a mouth-watering unification showdown with IBF rival Sven Ottke in Germany next year.

As revealed in Tuesday's Argus, Detriot-based fighter Tate will be the next man to square up to Newbridge hero Calzaghe when he shares top billing with Manchunian Ricky Hatton at Newcastle's Telewest Arena on December 14.

And 30-year-old Calzaghe is keen to wipe away the memories of his 12-round nightmare against Miguel Jimenez at the castle on August 17.

The Welshman was forced to grind out a win against a turtle-like Jimenez and even damaged his hand early on in the process.

But he's now fully recovered and raring to go against Tate, who won the WBU world super-middleweight title almost seven years ago.

"It was frustrating against Jimenez," said Calzaghe last night. "Beforehand, he was talking a good game, but he just did not want to fight after the second round. The guy managed to survive until the 12th and I expect Tate to come out there and get more involved."

Tate may now be 36 but he remains a fighter of tough durability and has lost only two of his last 13 bouts and they were against Calzaghe's potential next target Ottke.

Tate, who has been working as a personal trainer this year, suffered a torn eardrum in the second round during his latest clash with the German on June 1 but got through ten more.

After the setback, Tate said: "My heart's still in this. If my heart wasn't in it, I wouldn't be fighting any more."

Manchester's 'The Hitman' Hatton, meanwhile, will also be eager to shake off the nightmare of his last WBU world light-welterweight defence against Richard Smith in September.

In the second round, Smith's father and trainer Darkie stepped into the ring to pull his son out of the fight, claiming he had been head-butted by Hatton.

The fight was stopped with Smith disqualified and his father will appear before a British Boxing Board hearing next Tuesday to explain his actions.

Promoter Frank Warren, who confirmed he is chasing a Calzaghe-Ottke fight, said: "Newcastle will be a real big super show because we have two of the biggest British names fighting."