JOE Calzaghe can expect plenty of celebrity support tonight.

Not only will he have Rocky Balboa himself Sly Stallone backing him, but Calzaghe is also set to cheered on by one of Britain's most successful exports.

Funnyman Ricky Gervais will be in attendance, as he's a huge fight fan and admires Calzaghe as the best in the world.

Hopefully he won't have to deal with any heckling from the Welsh fans, as was the case in Vegas.

I will never forget Andrew Lloyd Webber being introduced only for a Calzaghe fan to shout at him: “Andrew, Andrew, Andrew,” and when he finally got his attention, “You're ugly aren't you!”

Most of the Calzaghe stable have arrived in NYC to support Joe but, due to fight commitments, most are in some stage of training and have joined the Calzaghes booze ban, with Sergio and Enzo forbidden by Joe to drink until after the fight.

It's nice then to see Mr Dedication himself, Gary Lockett, finally able to unwind after retiring from the sport.

Lockett is out here to do radio commentary and I spent a social night out with him on Thursday.

And thank God he's got a sense of humour.

Playing a low stakes game of pool, a slightly tipsy Argus man told Gary he was going to be beaten like I was Kelly Pavlik. I've said it before and will say it again. I. Am. An. Idiot.

Need further evidence? We are in New York, one of the most vibrant and exciting cities in the world and I spent a great proportion of last night discussing Newport County with a Spytty Park regular who I bumped into.

I really should have better things to be doing.

It's been easy to compare everything that has happened this week to Las Vegas in April when we came out for Calzaghe/Bernard Hopkins. One thing that certainly didn't compare was the weigh-in.

Only 200 tickets were made available to the public this time around and it paled in comparison to the electric atmosphere back in April.