This past weekend I ventured to Las Vegas to take my ringside seat for Joe Calzaghe's world light-heavyweight title win over Bernard Hopkins. 

It was my first experience of a big Las Vegas fight and I urge anyone and everyone to catch a fight out there if you can. The buzz around the place in the days leading up to the fight was like something I've never seen or experienced before.

Although we're able to produce great atmospheres on fight night here in the UK, I think the Vegas fight experience is unbeatable in terms of the complete package. It's not just about the fight over there. It's more of an experience that spreads across two or three days, maybe even a week in some cases. The build-up was just as exciting as the eventual fight – perhaps more so in this case.

At the weigh-in you had various current and former world champions chilling with fights fans and the press, and that's the kind of thing we don't get in the UK. There were guys like Roy Jones, Samuel Peter, Vinny Pazienza, Kevin Kelley and all the Golden Boy boxers walking around the room meeting and greeting whoever approached them. I watched a lot of these guys on television as a kid when I was just starting out my own boxing career.

The UK fans that made the trip out there also made the weekend special. A lot of people comment on the impact of the UK fans when they go to Vegas for the big fights, and it's really true. They definitely take the whole atmosphere up a notch. I was recognized by many people out there – Brits and Americans – and that was a nice touch, too. Obviously my last win against Enzo Maccarinelli was televised on Showtime in the States so a lot of Americans are becoming familiar with how The Hayemaker goes about business.

Going out to the States for these big events can only help enhance my profile even further. Whilst out there I was always being asked for interviews and it was good to have the opportunity to express myself to American fight fans.

While at the Thomas & Mack Center waiting for the Calzaghe-Hopkins fight to start the place became flooded with A-list celebrities. Not only was there the cream of world boxing at the event, I also had Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone in close proximity. Rambo, The Terminator and John McCain were sitting a matter of a few seats away from where I was!

As for the actual fight itself, I congratulate Calzaghe on a less than pretty but really professional job. He rallied back from a solid knockdown in the first round and went on to wear down one of the cagiest and craftiest fighters of the modern era. I always anticipated it being a stylistic headache for Calzaghe, but he overcame Hopkins' style in the end and scraped home. I wouldn't have argued with the scoring whichever way it went – as it was a very close fight – but felt Joe deserved the benefit of any doubt as he was the one making the fight.

Hopkins started the fight perfectly. He dropped Calzaghe in the first and then confused him for the next two or three rounds. Calzaghe wasn't sure what punch to throw or what direction to move. Hopkins appeared to negate Calzaghe's whole game with just the threat of his counter right hand – the punch that floored Joe.

We all know Calzaghe is a very adaptable fighter, though, and, after the shock of what Hopkins initially brought to the table, he settled down and found a way round it. He began reading what Bernard was doing and countered his counters. By the end of the seventh round I noticed Hopkins breathing really heavily in the corner. He was completely gassed and didn't have much left at 43 years of age. Calzaghe, by comparison, was by far the fresher of the two and the guy with the bigger engine in the fight. I guess that's what ultimately gave him the edge on the scorecards.

Strangely, a lot of British writers had Hopkins winning while the American writers had Calzaghe winning. Most importantly, two of the three judges had Calzaghe winning.

After the fight Calzaghe talked about fighting Roy Jones, Jr. possibly in Wales towards the end of the year. That would be a big fight between two big names and one that would be winnable for Calzaghe given the fact that Roy is nearly 40 years of age. It's a shame the two of them couldn't have gotten together five or six years ago when the fight was talked about during Jones' light-heavyweight reign.