Joe Calzaghe the Undefeated
by Ralph Oates
had taken his first step in the punch for pay code on the 1st of October 1993 when he stopped Paul Hanlon in the first round of four and had worked his way through the rankings to a deserved shot at the world crown. When the bell sounded to get the Eubank Calzaghe contest underway, the Welsh boxer had a dream start flooring his opponent for a count in the first round. However, if anyone thought this was going to be an easy night for Calzaghe they had to think again. Eubank was an experienced boxer and was not going to fold that easy, that was not his way. Eubank hence fought back, and while Calzaghe won on points after a thrilling encounter after twelve rounds, he knew he had been in a fight with a real warrior. In the past many boxers have been over hyped and had not lived up to their earlier expectations. Calzaghe had shown that in this meeting with Eubank he was the real deal and that his win over Eubank was just the beginning, and there was more to come from this classy boxer.
Photo courtesy of Les Clark.
On the night of the 11th of October 1997 Joe Calzaghe stepped into the ring at the Sheffield Arena to contest the vacant WBO world super-middleweight title against Chris Eubank (the title had been vacated by Ireland’s Steve Collins following his retirement). This was a match where a Calzaghe victory was expected. The Welshman was undefeated in twenty-two bouts and had won the British super-middleweight title along the way leading up to this point in time. Eubank, a former WBO world middleweight and super-middleweight champion, may have seen better days but he was still a tricky operator with the experience of forty-nine fights behind him; winning forty-five, losing two with two drawn. This would not be an easy task for Calzaghe, he would need to concentrate all the time during the fight against the man opposing him. Calzaghe, who boxed in the southpaw stance, was born on the 23rd of March 1972 and was duly trained by his father Enzo Calzaghe. When in the amateurs, the Welshman served notice that he was special when winning the ABA title on three occasions in different weight divisions; welterweight (1991), light-middleweight (1992), and middleweight (1993). Make no mistake that takes some doing. Calzaghe
38 CARDIFF TIMES
The Welshman hence became a major force in boxing and defended his world title seventeen times from 1998 to 2005. In America there was a boxer who was also making big waves in the division, his name was Jeff Lacy who was the holder of IBF version of the super-middleweight championship. Many felt that he was the main man at the weight and there was excitement when Calzaghe and Lacy agreed to meet in a unification contest. The two fighters met at the M.E.N Arena in Manchester on the 4th of March 2006. Going into the fight Lacy came with a resume of twenty-two bouts which included one no contest result, he too was yet to taste defeat in the professional ranks. The American was tipped to beat Calzaghe and duly end his undefeated record, which then stood at a perfect forty victories. Those who backed Lacy to fly back to the States as a unified world champion were wrong. On the night the Welshman produced one of the best performances to be seen in a UK ring for a number of years and took the American apart. Giving him a boxing lesson in the process, it was only the courage of Lacy which saw him reach the twelfth and final round in what was a breath-taking contest. Calzaghe was now the WBO and IBF world super-middleweight champion. That year Calzaghe returned to M.E.N Arena and defended the titles against the tough Cameroon born Sakio Bika, who was fighting out of Australia and came with a resume
