Joe Calzaghe - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Joseph William Calzaghe, CBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, MBE is a Welsh

Welsh people

The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...

former professional boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

. He is the former WBO

World Boxing Organization

The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...

, WBA

World Boxing Association

The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

, WBC

World Boxing Council

The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...

, IBF

International Boxing Federation

The International Boxing Federation or IBF is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...

, The Ring
The Ring (magazine)
The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...

& British

British Boxing Board of Control

The British Boxing Board of Control is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff.- Councils :...

super middleweight

Super middleweight

Super Middleweight is a boxing and Muay Thai weight division that has a weight limit of 168 pounds .- 1960s–1983 :There was interest in a division between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s...

champion and The Ring light heavyweight

Light heavyweight

In boxing, the light heavyweight is a weight division above 168 pounds [12 Stone or 76.204 kilograms] and up to 175 pounds [12.5 stone or 79.38 kilograms]), falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight...

champion.

Calzaghe is the longest-reigning world champion in recent years, having held the WBO super middleweight title for over ten years until he relinquished the title to concentrate on fighting at light heavyweight. As his super middleweight and light heavyweight reigns overlapped, he retired with the longest continual time as world champion of any active fighter. He is part of the Team Calzaghe

Team Calzaghe

Team Calzaghe is a boxing team that consists of Joe Calzaghe, Enzo Maccarinelli, Gavin Rees, Bradley Pryce, Gary Lockett, Kerry Hope and Harry Miles. Team Calzaghe is based in Newbridge, Caerphilly, Wales...

based at the Newbridge boxing club

Newbridge boxing club

The Newbridge Boxing Club is a boxing gym operated by Enzo Calzaghe and based in Newbridge, South Wales. The club has been one of the most successful of recent years, at one point in 2007 boasting three genuine world champions in Joe Calzaghe , Enzo Maccarinelli and Gavin Rees...

.

Between 2006 to 2008, he was rated by Ring magazine as a top ten pound for pound

Pound for pound

Pound for pound is a term to describe how any two things compare when bearing in mind their varying quantities; for example, a tin of tomatoes weighing 250 g and costing $2.50 is more expensive, pound for pound, than one weighing 500 g and costing $4 .It is used in combat sports such as boxing or...

boxer. He retired in February 2009 with an undefeated record, becoming only the fourth European boxer, after Terry Marsh

Terry Marsh (boxer)

Terry Marsh is an English former professional boxer who was an undefeated world champion in the light welterweight division....

, Michael Loewe and Sven Ottke

Sven Ottke

Sven Ottke, known as "The Phantom", is a German former professional boxer who was the IBF/WBA super middleweight champion...

, to retire as an undefeated world champion. Calzaghe is rated by Boxrec as the 11th pound-for-pound best British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

boxer of all time, after such fighters as Lennox Lewis

Lennox Lewis

Lennox Claudius Lewis, CM, CBE is a retired boxer and the most recent British undisputed world heavyweight champion. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship...

and Naseem Hamed

Naseem Hamed

Naseem Hamed is an English former professional boxer.He is the former WBO, WBC, IBF, & Lineal featherweight champion, and European bantamweight champion....

.

Calzaghe is sometimes referred to as the "Pride of Wales", or the "Italian Dragon" in reference to his mixed heritage (the dragon being both a Welsh emblem and a Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

n myth).

In 2007, Calzaghe became BBC Sports Personality of the Year

BBC Sports Personality of the Year

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of one titular award. Several new awards have been introduced, and , eight awards are presented. The oldest of these are the Team of the Year and...

, by gaining 28.19% of the public vote. This made Calzaghe the first Welsh winner of this award since show jumper

Show jumping

Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...

David Broome

David McPherson Broome CBE is a retired Welsh show jumping champion.Broome was born in Wales, attended Monmouth School and still maintains his stables at Mount Ballan Manor, Crick, near Chepstow in Monmouthshire...

in 1960. He was also awarded the Young Boxer of the Year Award in 1995.

Biography

Calzaghe was born in Hammersmith, London, to Sardinia

Sardinia

n Enzo Calzaghe

Enzo Calzaghe

Enzo Calzaghe MBE is an Anglo-Italian boxing trainer. He is the father of Joe Calzaghe and the head trainer for Team Calzaghe at the Newbridge boxing club...

and his Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

mother Jackie. The family moved to Wales

Wales

when he was aged two. Their home is at Newbridge in south Wales. He attended Roots School System and still lives in the area. Calzaghe was the first person to be awarded the Freedom of

Freedom of the City

Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...

Caerphilly

Caerphilly is a town in the county borough of Caerphilly, south Wales, located at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley, with a population of approximately 31,000. It is a commuter town of Cardiff and Newport, which are located some 7.5 miles and 12 miles away, respectively...

, his home county, in 2009. The award was presented to Calzaghe in front of his family — father and trainer Enzo, mother Jackie, sister Sonia, [then] girlfriend Jo-Emma Larvin and sons Joe and Connor, 15 and 11 years old respectively at the time.

Already a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Amateur career

Calzaghe, a southpaw, began boxing at age nine. In more than 12 amateur contests, he won four schoolboy ABA titles, followed by three consecutive senior British ABA titles (British Championships) between 1990 and 1993. This made him only the second boxer in history to win in welter, light-middleweight and middleweight divisions. He reportedly had an amateur record of 110–10. Calzaghe received his last defeats at the hands of Michael Smyth in the 1990 Welsh ABA final and Romanian amateur Adrian Opreda at the 1990 European Junior Championships in Prague.

Professional career

In September 1993 Calzaghe was signed up and made his professional debut at Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...

on the Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno

Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno

Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno, also known as the Battle of Britain, was a boxing match that took place on 1 October 1993, at the National Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff, Wales...

bill the following month. By June 1995, Calzaghe had won nine out of nine fights, seven in the first round and two in the second. At the end of 1995 Calzaghe was voted Young Boxer of the Year by the Professional Boxing Association and the Boxing Writers' Club, with Barry McGuigan

Barry McGuigan

Finbarr Patrick McGuigan MBE , known as Barry McGuigan and nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, is a former Irish and British professional boxer who became a world featherweight champion.-Background:...

's top tipping Calzaghe for 1996: "He punches ferociously, moves superbly and has the best of the European technique and US aggression." By October 1995, he had won the British title, stopping Steve Wilson in the eighth round. Calzaghe's critics said that he had not really been tested. Calzaghe said in reply that he could only beat whoever was out there and prepared to fight him.

In November 1996, Calzaghe moved to Frank Warren

Frank Warren (promoter)

Frank Darren Warren is an English boxing manager and promoter.-Early life and early career:The son of a bookmaker, Warren trained as a solicitor's clerk with J Tickle & Co on Southampton Row in London....

's stable. Warren, who had managed Nigel Benn

Nigel Benn

Nigel Benn , known as "The Dark Destroyer", is a British former boxer who held world titles in the middleweight and super middleweight divisions....

for his first twenty fights, declared: "Joe Calzaghe is a far better prospect, in fact he is my fighter for the new millennium." Warren spent the summer of 1997 chasing a fight for Calzaghe with either WBC champion Robin Reid or WBO title holder Steve Collins

Steve Collins

Stephen Collins, more commonly known as Steve Collins, is a former professional boxer. Known as the "The Celtic Warrior", Collins is the former WBO middleweight and super middleweight champion....

. The fight with Collins was arranged, but at a late stage Collins withdrew because of injury, was stripped of his title, and then retired.

Calzaghe split with promoter Frank Warren in June 2008 and announced that he would promote his fights personally for the remainder of his career. The split caused Warren to launch a court case against Calzaghe, claiming that a verbal promise to promote the Roy Jones Jr fight was broken and that Calzaghe owed him $1.4 million; Calzaghe in turn claimed that Warren owed him past fees. In March 2009 the High Court ruled that Warren had persuaded Calzaghe to sign contracts under duress

Duress

In jurisprudence, duress or coercion refers to a situation whereby a person performs an act as a result of violence, threat or other pressure against the person. Black's Law Dictionary defines duress as "any unlawful threat or coercion used... to induce another to act [or not act] in a manner...

when Calzaghe was hungry and dehydrated preparing for matches and that Warren's company Sports Network Limited owed Calzaghe $2.8 million in unpaid fees. Sports Network Limited intends to appeal the award.

WBO super middleweight champion

After Collins retired, a fight against British boxing legend Chris Eubank

Chris Eubank

Chris Eubank, Lord of the Manor of Brighton is a retired British boxer who held world titles at middleweight and super middleweight...

was quickly set up for the vacant WBO title on 11th October 1997, in Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

. Calzaghe emerged victorious over the two-time WBO champion, shockingly knocking the granite chinned Eubank down in the opening seconds and claiming a unanimous points win. The judges scored the contest 118–110, 118–109, and 116–111 in favour of Calzaghe. Eubank said of Calzaghe in a 2006 interview that: "Joe is the proper article, a true warrior." Calzaghe conceded that Eubank, even in his comeback, gave him the toughest fight of his life.

In 1998 he defended his title against Branco Sobot (winning by technical knockout in 3 rounds), Sobot, was a late replacement for American Tarick Salmaci, who pulled out after a row with his management. Sobot was knocked down in the third round, he beat the count but immediately came under renewed punishment from Calzaghe. Forcing the referee to step in at 1:35 of the third round. Calzaghe then went onto fight Juan Carlos Gimenez (TKO in 10 rounds), a former opponent of both Nigel Benn

Nigel Benn

Nigel Benn , known as "The Dark Destroyer", is a British former boxer who held world titles in the middleweight and super middleweight divisions....

and Eubank.

In 1999, Calzaghe started out by fighting his domestic rival, Robin Reid. Calzaghe was bitter that Reid refused to face him whilst holding the WBC championship in a unification bout, and vowed to beat him. After twelve rounds, the judges scored the fight for Calzaghe via a split decision. Reid was never given the opportunity of a rematch. Calzaghe damaged his hand early on in the fight and according to Calzaghe, he suffered a dose of food poisoning. Calzaghe finished the year with another points win against Rick Thornberry.

The new millennium

2000 started with another points decision against David Starie

David Starie

David Starie, in Bury St. Edmunds, England was a fringe British professional boxer. He is a former Commonwealth super middleweight champion and British super middleweight champion.-Professional career:...

. This was followed by wins against Omar Sheika

Omar Sheika

Omar Sheika is an American boxer of Palestinian descent. As of October 2010 he holds a professional record of 30 wins and 10 losses.-Amateur career:...

(a fifth-round stoppage), and former WBC champion and close friend Richie Woodhall

Richie Woodhall

Richie Woodhall is a former English World Champion super-middleweight boxer. He lost his last fight to his friend Joe Calzaghe in 2000, and subsequently retired in 2002....

.

2001 started with a first-round-stoppage win over unbeaten Mario Veit

Mario Veit

Mario Veit is a German boxer who is one of only two boxers to have beaten Juergen Braehmer....

, followed by a win against Will McIntyre on the Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson

Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...

-Brian Nielsen undercard in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

. Calzaghe dropped the American in the third round with a ferocious left uppercut, although McIntyre managed to survive the count. But the end was near, Calzaghe dropped McIntyre again at the start of the fourth and this time the referee stopped proceedings.

2002 started with points wins against both the former IBF champion Charles Brewer

Charles Brewer (boxer)

Charles Brewer , was a professional boxer of 185 cm height in the Super Middleweight division....

and Miguel Jimenez in Cardiff, followed by a quick TKO of Tocker Pudwill, who took the fight at very short notice as a replacement for the injured Thomas Tate

Thomas Tate

Thomas Tate is retired American middleweight and super-middleweight professional boxer. His record was 41-7 .He twice fought for world titles at middleweight, losing to Julian Jackson and Roy Jones Jr respectively...

, in Newcastle in December. With the win Calzaghe successfully defended his WBO super-middleweight crown for the 12th time. After the fight, Calzaghe said: "I'm one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. I want to be remembered as one of the best British boxers ever."

Calzaghe's only fight of 2003 was in June against Byron Mitchell

Byron Mitchell

Byron Tarone Mitchell was an American boxer of height in the super middleweight division.-Amateur career:Mitchell was the 1996 National Golden Gloves Middleweight champion.-Pro career:...

at the Cardiff International Arena

Cardiff International Arena

The Cardiff International Arena was opened on 10 September 1993, by Shirley Bassey, in front of 5,500 fans. On 1 March 2011, the Cardiff International Arena was officially renamed Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, after the car sales company with a branch in Newport bought the naming rights to the Cardiff...

. Calzaghe won by TKO

Knockout

A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...

in the second. Calzaghe suffered his first career knockdown in the second round.

2004 started out with a defense against Mger Mkrtchian in Cardiff where he won by a seventh-round knockout, followed by a points win over Karbary Salem in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

in October, during which Calzaghe was knocked down in the fourth round by a right hand. However, he dominated the fight and knocked Salem down in the 12th round, winning comfortably on all three scorecards, 116–109,117–109,118–107.

Veit got a rematch against Calzaghe in Braunschweig

Braunschweig

Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, in July 2005. Calzaghe beat Veit by technical knockout in the sixth round. On 10 September 2005, Calzaghe fought the Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

n boxer Evans Ashira

Evans Ashira

Evans Ashira is a boxer who is best known for his loss to Joe Calzaghe in 2005.-External links:...

and won by a unanimous decision despite breaking his left hand in the third round. Calzaghe fought on one-handed winning 120–108, 120–108, 120–107.

IBF super middleweight champion

Main article Joe Calzaghe vs. Jeff Lacy
Joe Calzaghe vs. Jeff Lacy
Joe Calzaghe vs. Jeff Lacy was a boxing Super Middleweight fight that took place on March 4, 2006 in Manchester, England for the WBO, IBF and the Ring titles...

His scheduled bout with IBF world champion Jeff Lacy

Jeff Lacy

Jeffrey Scott Lacy is an American boxer. He is a former International Boxing Federation super middleweight champion.-Amateur career:...

for 5 November 2005 was initially canceled due to the break sustained to the metacarpal in his left hand. Warren successfully rescheduled it for 5 March 2006, and the match was won by unanimous points decision over Lacy who was a pre-fight favourite with the bookmakers and pundits alike. Calzaghe dominated throughout the fight, with British fight fans chanting "easy" at the American during the last three rounds. Calzaghe gained the IBF title, and won every round despite a point being deducted in the 11th for an illegal "behind the body" punch. He also won recognition from The Ring magazine.

On 14 October 2006, Sakio Bika

Sakio Bika

Sakio "The Scorpion" Bika , is a professional boxer in the super middleweight division. He is the former IBO super middleweight world champion.-Amateur career:...

challenged Calzaghe. Two points were deducted from Bika for head butts, one of which led to a severe cut over Calzaghe's left eye which would cause him problems for the duration of the bout. Calzaghe won the fight on decision, to continue his undefeated run.

Relinquishing the IBF title

On November 27, 2006, it was announced that Calzaghe had signed a contract to defend his WBO super middleweight title against former star of The Contender
The Contender (TV series)
The Contender is a reality television series that follows a group of boxers as they compete with one another in an elimination-style competition, while their lives and relationships with each other and their families are depicted. Produced by Mark Burnett, the show is hosted by Sugar Ray Leonard,...

Peter Manfredo Jr. on April 7, 2007, at Millennium Stadium

Millennium Stadium

The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...

in Cardiff, Wales to be shown on HBO. Because HBO did not want to cover any fight with mandatory IBF challenger Robert Stieglitz, and with the opportunity if he won against Manfredo to fight Taylor in the summer, Calzaghe chose to fight Manfredo and as a result had to relinquish the IBF super middleweight championship. Both Calzaghe and Warren claimed that "Stieglitz doesn't mean anything outside of Germany." Stieglitz went on to fight Alejandro Berrio

Alejandro Berrio

Alejandro Berrio Hernández is a Colombian professional boxer.Known as "Ñaco", Berrio turned pro in 1997 and won the Vacant IBF Super Middleweight Title with a TKO win over Robert Stieglitz in early 2007 in Rostock, Germany...

for the vacant IBF title, losing in 3 rounds. Berrio in turn lost the title to Lucian Bute

Lucian Bute

Lucian Bute is a Romanian-Canadian professional boxer, currently based in Montreal, Canada. Bute is the current IBF Super Middleweight champion...

in his first defense.

Fighting Peter Manfredo Jr.

On April 7, 2007, Calzaghe met Peter Manfredo Jr. in front of 35,000 fans in Cardiff, Wales. Calzaghe was victorious on a third-round stoppage, unleashing a flurry of punches on Manfredo, who threw nothing in return, thus drawing a stoppage from the referee.
Manfredo and some commentators called the stoppage premature because Manfredo did not appear hurt. HBO's ringside announcers declared that the stoppage was "way too quick." Trainer Emanuel Steward

Emanuel Steward

Emanuel Steward is an American boxing trainer, commentator and inductee of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.-Life and career:...

did contend that Calzaghe was on his way to victory, but the stoppage tainted the performance through no fault of his own.

Calzaghe vs. Kessler

In May 2007, Frank Warren

Frank Warren (promoter)

released details to BBC 5 Live and on his website that Calzaghe had accepted Mogens Palle's offer of $5 million to fight Mikkel Kessler

Mikkel Kessler

Mikkel Kessler is a Danish professional boxer and former two time WBA & WBC Super Middleweight champion. In his professional career he has a record of 44–2 with 33 knockouts...

in Copenhagen, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

. The bout took place at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium

Millennium Stadium

on November 4. The fight was a unification bout for the WBO/WBA super/WBC/Ring Magazine super-middleweight titles. Calzaghe won by unanimous decision

Unanimous decision

A unanimous decision is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking in which all three judges agree on which fighter won the match....

, surpassing the 20 defenses made by Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins Jr, known as The Executioner is an American boxer and the current Ring Magazine and WBC light heavyweight champion...

and Larry Holmes

Larry Holmes

Larry Holmes is a former professional boxer. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which gave birth to his boxing nickname, The Easton Assassin....

at middleweight and heavyweight respectively. Only Joe Louis

Joe Louis

Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...

with 25 defenses of the undisputed heavyweight title and Dariusz Michalczewski

Dariusz Michalczewski

Dariusz Michalczewski is a retired Polish- German boxer and former Lineal, WBO, WBA, & IBF light heavyweight champion and WBO cruiserweight champion.-Early career:...

with 23 defenses of the WBO light heavyweight title have more defenses of a title.

Calzaghe was frequently described as undisputed champion

Undisputed Champion

In professional boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is a boxer who is recognized as the world champion at that class by each boxing organization.-History:...

, Since he had relinquished the IBF title, others argued that this was not strictly accurate, Reuters

Reuters

Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...

called him "undisputed king" of the division, while David A Avila said he was "the true undisputed world champion. Forget about the IBF titleholder Alejandro Berrio

Alejandro Berrio

. That’s really Calzaghe’s belt too." The WBA describes as "undisputed champion" those who hold any two of the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO titles; which Calzaghe did after beating Kessler, and had earlier done after beating Lacy.

Calzaghe vs. Hopkins

On April 19, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center

Thomas & Mack Center

The Thomas & Mack Center is an arena, located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. For ring events, the capacity is 19,522, for basketball, the capacity is 18,776.-History:...

in Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, Calzaghe defeated the 43 year old Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins Jr, known as The Executioner is an American boxer and the current Ring Magazine and WBC light heavyweight champion...

to win The Ring

The Ring (magazine)

The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...

light heavyweight championship by a split decision in his first ever fight in the United States. Going into the fight Calzaghe again was a heavy favorite as Hopkins was 43 years old and had lost 2 of his last 4 fights.

Calzaghe did not get off to a good start. Hopkins dropped him with a right hand in the first round and began to get the better of Calzaghe on the inside.

As the rounds went on, Calzaghe continued to push the pace and began to get his rhythm going by landing combinations at close range. Hopkins’ key weapon was his right hand, but after a few rounds Calzaghe could see the right hands coming and blocked the shots whilst Hopkins gradually tired.

According to CompuBox, Calzaghe landed more punches on Hopkins than any of his previous opponents.. Judges Chuck Giampa (116–111) and Ted Gimza (115–112) scored the fight for Calzaghe, while judge Adalaide Byrd (114–113) scored the fight for Hopkins. HBO's unofficial ringside judge Harold Lederman

Harold Lederman

Harold Lederman is a celebrated boxing judge and analyst. He began his career as a boxing judge in 1967 and joined the cast of HBO World Championship Boxing in 1986, where he has been ever since....

scored the bout 116-111 for Calzaghe.

Hopkins was upset with the official decision and said that he was robbed of a clear points win. Hopkins said, "I just really feel like I took the guy to school. I feel like I made him fight my fight, not his. I wanted him to run into my shots. I think I made him do that, and I think I made it look pretty easy. I think I controlled the pace, and I controlled the fight." He has also openly stated that he wants a rematch with Calzaghe.

Calzaghe vs. Jones Jr.

On July 8, 2008, after Calzaghe's split from Frank Warren, it was officially announced that the 39 year old, Roy Jones Jr.

Roy Jones Jr.

Roy Jones, Jr. is an American boxer. As a professional he has captured numerous world titles in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight divisions...

and Joe Calzaghe had reached an agreement to fight for the Ring
The Ring (magazine)
The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...

magazine light heavyweight championship in New York City at Madison Square Garden on September 20, 2008 on HBO PPV. After Calzaghe injured his right hand in training, the "super fight" was postponed, with 8 November being set as the new date. Calzaghe was put down by an accidental forearm in the first round. Two close rounds followed before Calzaghe took control of the fight. In the eighth round, Jones sustained a cut over an eye, nearly forcing a stoppage. The judges' decision was 118–109 for Calzaghe.

Retirement

On 5 February 2009, Joe Calzaghe announced his retirement from professional boxing, finishing with a record of 46–0, one of the few World Champions to finish undefeated along with Rocky Marciano

Rocky Marciano

Rocky Marciano , born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, was an American boxer and the heavyweight champion of the world from September 23, 1952, to April 27, 1956. Marciano is the only champion to hold the heavyweight title and go undefeated throughout his career. Marciano defended his title six times...

, Ji Won Kim

Ji Won Kim

Ji-Won Kim was a South Korean boxer who was an unbeaten world champion in the super bantamweight division.-Amateur career:...

, Terry Marsh

Terry Marsh (boxer)

Terry Marsh is an English former professional boxer who was an undefeated world champion in the light welterweight division....

, Michael Loewe, Ricardo Lopez, Pichit Sitbangprachan

Pichit Sitbangprachan

Pichit Sithbanprachan also known as Supap Hanwichachai is a retired boxer in the Flyweight division. All 27 of his fights took place in his native Thailand.- Career history :...

, Harry Simon

Harry Simon (boxer)

Harry Simon is a professional boxer in the super welterweight division.- Amateur Highlights :As an amateur Simon represented Namibia as a welterweight at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain...

, Sven Ottke

Sven Ottke

Sven Ottke, known as "The Phantom", is a German former professional boxer who was the IBF/WBA super middleweight champion...

and Edwin Valero

Edwin Valero

Edwin Valero was a Venezuelan professional boxer. He was born in Bolero Alto, and raised in El Vigía ....

. He is also one of only 3 undisputed and undefeated world champions (Marciano and Lopez are the other two). After his retirement, fellow boxer and friend, Ricky Hatton

Ricky Hatton

Richard John Hatton MBE, more commonly known as Ricky "the Hitman" Hatton, , is a former British professional boxer, and currently a promoter....

described him as "the best British fighter we've ever had".

After boxing

In an interview with GMTV

GMTV

GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...

, Calzaghe stated he is promoting The Beat Bullying campaign. He said to have found the inspiration from being a victim of bullying himself when he was young, saying he got bullied because of his small stature.

In August 2009, he was announced as a participant in the seventh series of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...

series, partnering Russian professional Kristina Rihanoff

Kristina Rihanoff

Kristina Rihanoff is a world finalist professional ballroom dancer, instructor and author.-Achievements:...

.

Joe won the 2010 Soccer Aid

Soccer Aid

-Event schedule:*22 May 2006 – Start of the television coverage, presented by Ant and Dec. Rest of the World defeats England in a penalty shoot-out*23 May 2006 – Practice match: England 1–0 England Legends...

, a British charity

Charitable organization

A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...

football match with the Rest of the World team beating England, Joe scored the Rest of the World team's first goal, the game was tied after full-time but the Rest of the World won on penalties.

Calzaghe Promotions

Following his retirement from boxing, Calzaghe started his own boxing promotion

Promoter (entertainment)

An entertainment promoter i.e. music, wrestling, boxing etc is a person or company in the business of marketing and promoting live events such as concerts/gigs, boxing matches, sports entertainment , festivals, raves, and nightclubs.- Business model :Promoters are typically hired as independent...

company called "Calzaghe Promotions" with his father, Enzo Calzaghe

Enzo Calzaghe

Enzo Calzaghe MBE is an Anglo-Italian boxing trainer. He is the father of Joe Calzaghe and the head trainer for Team Calzaghe at the Newbridge boxing club...

Personal life

Calzaghe has two sons and now lives in Newport.

Following an undercover investigation by the News of the World

News of the World

The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...

Newspaper, Calzaghe admitted he had used cocaine since his boxing career had ended. In a statement on his website, he added that he regretted his "occasional use of cocaine in what have sometimes been the long days since my retirement from the ring."

Professional boxing record

Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins Jr, known as The Executioner is an American boxer and the current Ring Magazine and WBC light heavyweight champion...

Mikkel Kessler

Mikkel Kessler is a Danish professional boxer and former two time WBA & WBC Super Middleweight champion. In his professional career he has a record of 44–2 with 33 knockouts...

Sakio Bika

Sakio "The Scorpion" Bika , is a professional boxer in the super middleweight division. He is the former IBO super middleweight world champion.-Amateur career:...

Jeff Lacy

Jeffrey Scott Lacy is an American boxer. He is a former International Boxing Federation super middleweight champion.-Amateur career:...

Evans Ashira

Evans Ashira is a boxer who is best known for his loss to Joe Calzaghe in 2005.-External links:...

Mario Veit

Mario Veit is a German boxer who is one of only two boxers to have beaten Juergen Braehmer....

Kabary Salem

Kabary Salem, was a former professional Boxer who is famous for fighting Joe Calzaghe for the WBO super middleweight title in October 2004 and managed to knock Calzaghe down in the 4th round, however he lost the contest on points...

Byron Mitchell

Byron Tarone Mitchell was an American boxer of height in the super middleweight division.-Amateur career:Mitchell was the 1996 National Golden Gloves Middleweight champion.-Pro career:...

Charles Brewer

Charles Brewer (boxer)

Charles Brewer , was a professional boxer of 185 cm height in the Super Middleweight division....

Mario Veit

Mario Veit is a German boxer who is one of only two boxers to have beaten Juergen Braehmer....

Richie Woodhall

Richie Woodhall is a former English World Champion super-middleweight boxer. He lost his last fight to his friend Joe Calzaghe in 2000, and subsequently retired in 2002....

Omar Sheika

Omar Sheika is an American boxer of Palestinian descent. As of October 2010 he holds a professional record of 30 wins and 10 losses.-Amateur career:...

David Starie

Juan Carlos Giménez Ferreyra

Juan Carlos Gimenez Ferreyra

Juan Carlos Giménez Ferreyra is a Paraguayan boxer. He once fought Joe Calzaghe, losing via knockout.He went the distance with both Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank.Probably the most successful Paraguayan boxer of all time....

Chris Eubank

Chris Eubank, Lord of the Manor of Brighton is a retired British boxer who held world titles at middleweight and super middleweight...

Mark Delaney

Mark Delaney (boxer)

Mark Delaney is an English boxer who fought professionally between 1993 and 2000. He is the younger brother of former Commonwealth Cruiserweight Champion Garry “The Hammer” Delaney....

Reigns of championships

Sanctioning Body and Weight Class	Reign Began	Reign Ended	Time Held
BBBofC super middleweight British Boxing Board of Control The British Boxing Board of Control is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff.- Councils :...	October 28, 1995	June 5, 1997 (Vacated)	20 months
WBO super middleweight World Boxing Organization The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...	October 11, 1997	September 26, 2008 (Retired)	131½ months
IBF super middleweight International Boxing Federation The International Boxing Federation or IBF is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...	March 4, 2006	November 27, 2006 (Retired)	8 months
WBC super middleweight World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...	November 3, 2007	July 4, 2008 (Retired)	9 months
WBA super middleweight World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...	November 3, 2007	July 4, 2008 (Retired)	9 months
The Ring super middleweight	March 4, 2006	September 28, 2008 (Retired)	30 months
The Ring light heavyweight	April 19, 2008	February 5, 2009 (Retired)	10 months

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Biography

Amateur career

Professional career

WBO super middleweight champion

The new millennium

IBF super middleweight champion

Relinquishing the IBF title

Fighting Peter Manfredo Jr.

Calzaghe vs. Kessler

Calzaghe vs. Hopkins

Calzaghe vs. Jones Jr.

Retirement

After boxing

Calzaghe Promotions

Personal life

Professional boxing record

Reigns of championships

See also

External links