THE memories of an indulgent Christmas are long gone for me now, training is back on the agenda and I am raring to go.

I am the kind of fighter and person who needs to be 100% committed to everything I do.

It's easy in theory to say that a boxer always trains the same for every fight, but that isn't the reality.

My dad and trainer Enzo is most definitely a tough task master - Enzo Maccarinelli calls him sadistic' Enzo - but each and every fighter is responsible for his own training.

You have to drag yourself out of bed to go running, be prepared to push yourself past the pain barrier in the gym and to make sacrifices, particularly with your diet.

I would never be the kind of fighter to pile on the pounds like Ricky Hatton does between fights, but I pigged out over Christmas, went on holiday to Dubai and I really enjoyed not training.

However, that has all stopped now and getting into brilliant shape is my only objective.

As I was saying before, I have always been one to prepare differently for each fight.

It's not a deliberate thing, it's not about disrespecting anyone, it's just my nature.

I can't get as pumped up and focused for a fight with someone like Sakio Bika or Kabary Salem, I just can't.

I had plenty of chance to look back on my career when I did a column for the Argus on my 10th anniversary as WBO super middleweight champion and it became clear that the lesser the challenge, the worse my performance tended to be.

When I've really had the big challenges, Chris Eubank, Mario Veit in Germany, Jeff Lacy and Mikkel Kessler, that is when I've been in the best condition.

I was so happy with how training went for the Kessler fight, lots of the boxing writers commented on how relaxed I seemed and I genuinely was.

The same will happen for the Bernard Hopkins fight, as I say, the bigger the challenge, the better I am.

I expressed my delight last week at having everything signed and sealed for April 19 in Los Vegas and people seem to be really pleased!

I don't know why, but most of the boxing journalists seem to prefer a trip to Los Vegas than a trip to the Millennium Stadium.

I understand about 5,000 tickets will go to British fight fans and it should be a truly memorable occasion.

I will be going out a couple of weeks before to get acclimatised and to finish training, but until then my routine won't change, I will be in the Team Calzaghe gym preparing like I always do.

Obviously Enzo Maccarinelli is training hard for his fight with David Haye at the 02 Arena on March 8, he's buzzing and in great shape already.

A lot of the other fighters in the gym are also busying themselves for action; hopefully I will be able to give more details on this soon.

They are also all looking forward to a trip to Vegas, the scramble for hotels is well and truly on, even for the boxers!

The only real difference in preparing for a fight in America will be the promotion, instead of a couple of press trips to London, it'll be press trips to Vegas and New York.

This isn't as glamorous as it sounds, obviously I want the maximum amount of time to train so it really will be a case of flying in, meeting the press and flying back.

Sly Stallone is compering the press conference when we do go over, he's like an old mate now!

I've never been one for hanging around with celebrities, but I did read this week in Boxing News that Ricky Gervais is a big fan of mine.

What a huge compliment, I think Ricky is brilliant, I loved The Office and Extras and think he's hilarious.

I knew he was into boxing because he did a celebrity boxing match a couple of years ago, so it was nice to hear he's a big fan.

So Ricky, if you're reading this and you fancy coming to the Hopkins fight, get your people to ring my people!