JOE Calzaghe says it's time to cash in after his career-defining win on Saturday.

But he insists he will always live and train at home in Wales. Back at his father's gym in Newbridge yesterday, following the fight in Manchester, he said: "I'm going to go where the money is - now is the time to cash in.

"Things have changed after this fight. I'm going to be known in America now but I will always stay at home.

"There is no chance of me moving to America. I've boxed and trained here with my Dad since I was nine and I won't leave it behind."

Three days after his 12-round destruction of American Jeff Lacy at the MEN arena, the undefeated super-middleweight paid tribute to his Welsh fans.

"I've had amazing support from local people. For a small country Wales really knows how to support its sportsmen.

"Bus loads of people came up from Wales to watch on Saturday and that gave me a real boost.

"I've had letters already from people saying they think it's incredible and the best fight they've ever seen. The reaction has been fantastic." Calzaghe, 33, also said he couldn't have achieved his victory without the support of his father Enzo, who has coached the boxer since he was nine years old.

"He's tremendously supportive and I owe him a lot. "He's always had faith in me."

The Newbridge fighter also told how his Dad helped him overcome doubts when a serious injury threatened the fight from going ahead. He said "Three weeks before the fight I was thinking of pulling out because of the injury but my dad said 'You are going to do a number on this guy, it's going to be your easiest fight ever.'

"He made sure the fight went ahead. I had doubts in my own mind but he got them out of me."

Despite the "tremendous stress" he felt in the weeks leading up to the bout, Calzaghe says he has never felt better going into a fight. "I've never been so relaxed for a fight, despite the fact that there was so much pressure.

"I was relaxed and smiling and at the press conference Lacy looked tense."

The boxer told how the 2am start time affected him. In the two weeks beforehand he was training until 2 or 3am but still waking at 8am.

He said: "It really started to play on my mind, only getting five hours' sleep. "But on Saturday night the adrenalin was pumping and it could have been 4am, I still would have performed like that."

Calzaghe will now enjoy a holiday in the Caribbean before meeting his promoter Frank Warren. They hope to arrange a fight for July. Calzaghe said his ideal opponent was Antonio Tarver, which would mean moving up to the light heavyweight division.

He described another possible opponent, Roy Jones Jnr, as "still a legend".