Joe Calzaghe
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| Joe Calzaghe | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Joe Calzaghe |
| Nickname | The Pride of Wales; The Italian Dragon |
| Weight | Super middleweight |
| Nationality |  British |
| Birth date | 23 March 1972 |
| Birth place | London, England, UK |
| Style | Southpaw |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 42 |
| Wins | 42 |
| Wins by KO | 31 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Joseph "Joe" Calzaghe (born 23 March 1972 in South Acton, London, England) is a British boxer of Italian and Welsh descent. He currently lives in Wales and is one of the pound for pound top 10 boxers in the world according to the Ring Magazine.[1]
He is sometimes referred to as the "Italian Dragon" as a nod to his mixed heritage (the dragon being a Welsh emblem), or the "Pride of Wales". He is the current WBO and IBF super middleweight world champion.
Joe's father and trainer Enzo was born in Sardinia but spent many years living in England. When Calzaghe was two years old the family moved to South Wales, from where Calzaghe's mother hailed.
Contents |
[edit] Early Years & Amateur Career
Calzaghe has claimed that he was bullied at school, and, although he showed promise as a footballer, he began boxing with encouragement from his father at Newbridge Boxing Club at the age of nine.
He continued boxing while attending Oakdale Comprehensive School, near his home town of Newbridge, between 1983 and 1988, winning three British Schoolboy titles.
Between 1991 and 1993 Calzaghe received acclaim for winnning three consecutive British ABA titles at three sepearate weight classes; welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight.
He became only the second boxer in history to win three successive ABA Titles in three different divisions, the first being Fred Webster in 1926-1928 who acheieved his hat-trick by winnning at bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight. Only one boxer took Calzaghe to the full nine minutes of a bout during this time.
In the one and only loss in 117 bouts at amateur, his opponent's father was the referee.
[edit] Professional career
In September 1993 Calzaghe was signed up to the Terry Lawless and Mickey Duff stable and made his professional debut at Cardiff Arms Park on the Lewis-Bruno 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.
He became Barry McGuigan's top tip for 1996 with the following quote: "He punches ferociously, moves superbly and has the best of the European technique and US aggression".
By October 1995, he had won the British Championship, stopping Steve Wilson in the eighth round.
Calzaghe's critics said that he had not really been tested. His reply was that he could only beat whoever was out there and prepared to fight him.
In November 1996, Calzaghe moved to Frank Warren's stable. Warren, who had managed Nigel Benn for his first 20 fights, declared: "Joe Calzaghe is a far better prospect, in fact he is my fighter for the new millennium."
Calzaghe spent the summer of 1997 chasing a fight with either Robin Reid or Steve Collins (WBC and WBO champions respectively).
The fight with Steve Collins was arranged, but at a late stage Collins withdrew because of injury, was stripped of his title, and then retired.
[edit] WBO Super Middleweight Champion
A fight against the recently deposed champion Chris Eubank was set up for the vacant WBO world crown for 11 October 1997, in Sheffield, which ended with a decisive win for Calzaghe.
In 1998 he defended his title against Branco Sobot (winning by technical knockout in 3 rounds) and then the durable Juan Carlos Gimenez (TKO in 9 rounds), a former opponent of both Nigel Benn and Eubank.
In 1999, Calzaghe started out by fighting what would be his toughest challenge thus far in his career, a slick counterpuncher by the name of Robin Reid. After 12 rounds, the judges scored the fight for Calzaghe via a split decision. This fight's decision has been deemed controversial by some and 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. After that slight blemish on Calzaghe's record, he finished the year with another points win against Rick Thornberry followed early the next year with another points decision against David Starie.
The wins against the highly rated Omar Sheika (a five round stoppage) and former WBC champion and close friend Richie Woodhall were followed by a first round win over Mario Veit (1 minute 55 seconds) and an equally decisive win against Will Mcintyre on the Tyson undercard in Copenhagen.
After facing tough competition against Bryon Mitchell and Karbary Salem, both of whom scored knockdowns against Calzaghe, he beat Veit, in a rematch that ended in a technical knockout in the sixth round.
On 10 September 2005, Calzaghe fought the Kenyan boxer Evans Ashira 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.
His scheduled bout with IBF world champion Jeff Lacy for November 5, 2005 was initially cancelled due to the break sustained to the metacarpal in his left hand.
His promoter, Frank Warren, successfully rescheduled it for 5 March 2006, and the match was won by a very wide unanimous points decision over Lacy (119-105, 119-107, 119-107), who was the pre-fight favourite with the bookmakers, gaining Calzaghe the IBF title. Calzaghe had a point deducted in the 11th for holding and turning Lacy, meaning the American did not win a single round on a single card.
Calzaghe was tentatively scheduled to fight former Light Heavyweight champion Glen Johnson in the featured bout of a July 8th card at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, but he was forced to withdraw from the fight when he reaggravated the hand injury sustained in his bout with Ashira.
As of 14 Oct, Sakio Bika and Calzaghe came fist to fist (and head to head) in one of the more aggressive and dirty fights of his career. Two points were deducted from Bika for headbutts, one of which led to a severe cut over Joe Calzaghes left eye which would cause him problems for the duration of the bout. Calzaghe won the fight on decision to retain his undefeated run.
Frank Warren commented after the fight that he was unhappy with Calzaghes' showboating but was obviously contented with the win. Frank Warren would later hint that a big fight for Calzaghe, possibly in the United States is being planned for sometime in spring 2007, possibly against Jermain Taylor or Bernard Hopkins.
| Preceded by: Vacated by Steve Collins |
WBO Super Middleweight Champion October 11, 1997-Present |
Succeeded by: incumbent |
| Preceded by: Vacated by Jeff Lacy |
IBF Super Middleweight Champion March 5, 2006-Present |
Succeeded by: incumbent |
