Manchester - Joe Calzaghe has insisted the prospect of fighting in front of a packed crowd at the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena will inspire him and not overwhelm him when he faces Jeff Lacy on Saturday.

Calzaghe, the 33-year-old World Boxing Organisation (WBO) champion meets International Boxing Federation (IBF) holder in a super-middlweight unification bout.

The fight promises to be the biggest in Britain since Ricky Hatton's win light-welterweight win over Australia-based Russian champion Kostya Tszyu.

But Calzaghe has insisted he will not be overawed against the big-punching 28-year-old American in front of a partisan crowd of more than 16 000.

"When you get a massive crowd it's going to give you a lift - and I think it will," said Calzaghe.

"There's a lot of pressure on it as well but I'm sure it's going to be a positive for me, with a great atmosphere and a great night," the Welshman added.

Lacy, nicknamed "Left Hook" due to his signature punch, has a 21-win unbeaten record but Calzaghe was adamant those statistics, which include 17 stoppages, did not tell the whole story.

"He couldn't stop Omar Sheika," said Calzaghe. "If he could punch that hard he would have knocked Sheika out.

"Obviously he's powerful, he stopped Robin Reid quite impressively and the guy he fought last time (Scott Pemberton), but he hasn't fought me yet.

"Let's see how he responds when he gets hit by me."

Meanwhile Calzaghe, who has 40 wins and 31 stoppages on his perfect record, said he planned to have just four more fights before retiring from the ring with his record intact.

"That's a rare event," he said. "Ideally it would be great to win this fight on Saturday and have maybe another three fights.

"With the carrot of pay-days and money, retiring is easier said than done, and there's always the money there which tempts champions to stay maybe one fight too long.

"But that would be an amazing achievement to retire unbeaten."