Joe Calzaghe
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Joseph William Calzaghe | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joseph William Calzaghe 23 March 1972 |
| Nationality |  Welsh[1] |
| Other names | The Pride of Wales The Italian Dragon |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Super Middleweight |
| Height | 5 ft 11.5 in (1.82 m) |
| Reach | Template:Cm to in |
| Stance | Southpaw |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 44 |
| Wins | 44 |
| Wins by KO | 32 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Joe Calzaghe MBE (born 23 March 1972 in Hammersmith, London) is a Welsh boxer of Sardinian descent currently living in Newbridge, Newport, and is pound for pound one of the top 10 boxers in the world.[2]
He is sometimes referred to as the "Italian Dragon" in reference to his mixed heritage (the dragon being both a Welsh emblem and a Sardinian myth), or the "Pride of Wales." He is the current WBO, WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine world super middleweight champion and the former IBF super middleweight world champion.
Calzaghe is the longest reigning title holder in any weight class in boxing, recently passing the ten year mark as the WBO super middleweight champion. He is part of the Team Calzaghe boxing gym.
In 2007, Calzaghe became BBC Sports Personality of the Year on December 9, beating Ricky Hatton and Lewis Hamilton by gaining 28.19% of the public vote.[3] This made Calzaghe the first Welsh winner of this award since show jumper David Broome in 1960.
Biography
Calzaghe was born in Hammersmith, west London, England to Sardinian Enzo Calzaghe and his Welsh wife Jackie.[4]
Amateur
Calzaghe started boxing aged nine, with the southpaw having 120+ fights and won four schoolboy ABA titles, followed by three consecutive senior British ABA titles (British Championships) from 1991 to 1993. This made him only the second boxer in history to win at welter, light middleweight and middleweight divisions. He also beat future WBO and IBF heavyweight world champion Chris Byrd as a middleweight in 1992.[5] Calzaghe received his only ever defeat when he boxed at amateur level when he boxed at the 1990 Welsh ABA final against Michael Smyth.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). and pundits alike. Calzaghe dominated throughout the fight, with the British fight fans chanting "Over-rated" 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 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 retain his undefeated run.
Relinquishing IBF world championship
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 Peter Manfredo Jr. on April 7, 2007, at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales to be shown on HBO. Because HBO didn't 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 for the vacant IBF title, losing in 3 rounds. Berrio in turn lost the title to Lucian Bute in his first defense.
Fighting "Contender" 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 Emmanuel Steward did contend that Calzaghe was on his way to victory, but the stoppage taints the performance by no fault of his own.
Undisputed Title
In May 2007, Frank Warren 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 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The bout took place at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on November 4.[6]The fight was a unification bout for the WBO/WBA/WBC/Ring Magazine super middleweight titles.
Calzaghe won by unanimous decision becoming the first undisputed super middleweight champion of the world and surpassed the 20 defenses made by Bernard Hopkins and Larry Holmes at middleweight and heavyweight respectively.[7][8][9] Only Joe Louis with 25 defenses of the undisputed heavyweight title and Dariusz Michalczewski with 23 defenses of the WBO light heavyweight title have more defenses of a title.
The Future For Joe Calzaghe
Calzaghe is scheduled to face Bernard Hopkins on April 19, 2008, in Las Vegas at light heavyweight.
Professional boxing record
See also
References
- ^ "Sports Personality contenders". Retrieved 2008-04-19.
- ^ "The Ring Ratings". The Ring. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
- ^ BBC News Sports Article retrieved 10th December 2007
- ^ www.joecalzaghe.com Retrieved 14 January 2007
- ^ Joe Calzaghe - Boxrec Boxing Encyclopaedia
- ^ "Calzaghe-Kessler set Cardiff date". BBC Sport. 11 July 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
- ^ "Masterful Calzaghe hands Kessler first defeat". ABC Australia news. November 4, 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
- ^ Paul Upham (November 42007). "Calzaghe Outboxes Kessler To Become Undisputed World Champion". SecondsOut.com. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Jason Abelson (November 42007). "Calzaghe Undisputed Super Middleweight King". TheFightNetwork.com. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ boxrec.com
External links
- Official Joe Calzaghe website
- Joe Calzaghe Fight-by-Fight Career Record
- Showtime fighter facts
- Boxing record for Joe Calzaghe from BoxRec (registration required)
- Statistics at BritishBoxing.net
- BBC Wales profile
- Boxing-Enzyklopädie
- 1972 births
- Living people
- People from Hammersmith
- People from Newbridge, Caerphilly
- Italian-Welsh people
- Welsh boxers
- Super-middleweights
- IBF Champions
- WBO Champions
- World Super middleweight Champions
- BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
- BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners
- Members of the Order of the British Empire