British land has always been famous for upscale boxers. Many of them managed to reach the heights of professional boxing, having won one or more world titles. However, even in such a galaxy of famous athletes, a special place is occupied by a man named Joe Calzaghe, who not only was a world champion, but also did not suffer a single defeat during his entire career. We will talk about him in more detail in this article.
Curriculum Vitae
Joe Calzaghe was born March 23, 1972 in the English city of Hammersmith. His father was Italian by birth, and his mother was born in Wales, where the family moved when the boy was two years old.
Calzaghe began his boxing career at the age of nine. In the amateur ring, he spent more than 120 fights. Managed to win several amateur titles.
Professional career
As a pro, Joe Calzaghe first entered the ring in 1993. The vast majority of his fights boxer spent in the UK. Surprisingly, in his entire sports life he never lost. And this despite the fact that he fought in an amateur stance, kept his back too direct in battle and occasionally bounced on his toes at those moments when he should have been in full stop. However, these technical nuances in his performance were not a drawback, but rather, on the contrary, made his style corporate and exclusive.
The beginning of the way
Having started performing in 1993, Calzaghe was able to quickly get to the top of the world ranking. In the first two years, he spent 13 fights, in all of which he was able to win. At the same time, he ended seven fights with a knockout in the first round, and two fights in the second. Among the defeated at that time, such famous names as Frank Minton and Robert Kerry were listed.
First title
At the end of 1995, Joe Calzaghe was recognized as the best young boxer of the year. In many ways the assignment of such a title was his victory over Stephen Wilson, thanks to which he could become the strongest in the British Isles.
Well-known boxing analyst Barry McGuigan (formerly also a boxer and world champion) at the time spoke of Calzaghe as follows: “He hits hard, moves great and combines the best - European technology and American aggression.”
Criticism
In 1996, Calzaghe defeated Guy Stanford and Anthony Brooks by knockouts. He was also able to defeat Warren Stowe and Pat Lolore. However, Joe sounded the words that he had not yet passed the real tests in the ring. To this, the British boxer replied that he could fight anyone, as he always prepares for fights seriously and with all responsibility.
Fight with Eubank
In the fall of 1997, Joe entered the ring to fight for the WBO world title. His rival was the most experienced Chris Eubank, who previously owned this title and lost it to Steve Collins. However, due to injuries, the champion left the belt, and he became vacant.
In the duel “Calzaghe - Eubank” the opposition of youth against experience was clearly visible. During the battle, Joe was able to knock down his opponent twice and eventually win by unanimous decision. As a result, already in his 23rd professional fight, the Welshman became the world champion. Then no one could have imagined that this fighter will be able to hold the title for ten years.
Belt protection
Joe did not rest on the winner’s laurels for long and in January 1998 he held his first successful defense of the title from the claims of Croatian opponent Branco Sobot, whom he knocked out in the third round.
In April of the same year, Calzaghe once again successfully defends its title in a duel with the boxer from Paraguay Juan Carlos Jimenez Pereira.
The most controversial turned out to be a duel between Joe and Robin Reed in February 1999. The victory over the applicant for the champion was then extremely difficult, because the judges recorded the victory by a separate decision. According to experts, it was this victory that was the most controversial in Calzaghe's entire career.
The next two opponents - Ricky Thornberry and David Stari - were also defeated on points, and Omar Shayk was knocked out in the fifth round.
Continuation of the winning streak
At the end of 2000, the resistance of yet another challenger, Richie Woodhall, was broken. And just a month later, a boxer from Germany, Mario Veit, was knocked out. After this fight, Joe fought alternately with the Americans. These professional boxers were also literally destroyed and declassified.
But in the summer of 2003, Joe was knocked down for the first time. In a fight with mandatory challenger Byron Mitchell, Calzaghe ran into a left hook and ended up on canvas. After the referee’s countdown, the American pounced on the Welshman like a kite, trying to finish him off. However, Joe in a counterattack was able to get lateral into the opponent’s jaw and knock him down. Byron had the strength to rise, but the champion delivered a series of blows, after which the referee was forced to step in and stop the match ahead of schedule, fixing Calzaghe's victory.
In early 2004, he knocked out Russian boxer Mher Mkrtchyan in the seventh round. In October, Joe fought with a very uncomfortable, extremely “dirty” boxer from the United States Cabari Salem. Their fight lasted all 12 rounds. And again the winner was the British.
Unification battle
On March 4, 2006, Joe Calzaghe, whose biography is unique and an example for many boxers, held a duel with the then-current IBF world champion Jeff Lacy. Both fighters chose an attacking style of combat. Calzaghe often hit the opponent. In the 11th round, one point was removed with Joe, since he struck after the “break” team. In the 12th round, the Welshman knocked down his opponent, but he was able to get up. Calzaghe tried to finish off an opponent, but the referee broke off the match because he noticed a loose bandage on the Lacey glove. The final result of the battle was the victory of Calzaghe by a judicial decision.
In October of that year, Joe had another fight. This time, Sakio Bika, an Australian of Cameroonian origin, opposed him. In the fifth round, the challenger went ahead with his head too low and collided with the champion. For this, the referee took one point with Sakio. As a result of all 12 rounds, Joe celebrated the victory. By the way, after this fight, Calzaghe voluntarily refused the IBF belt.
On April 7, 2007, Calzaghe fought Peter Manfredo. Already in the third round, the Welshman pressed the American to the ropes and carried out a protracted series of punches. Initially, his shots hit the target, but later he began to miss and fall into defense. But the referee still made a very controversial decision to stop the match. So ambiguous, according to many experts, the twentieth defense of the WBO title ended.
Six months later, Calzaghe was waiting for another triumph. This time, the winner of the two belts of the world champion in versions of WBC and WBA Dane Mikkel Kessler was defeated. The fight went the whole distance. Joe was more aggressive, and the judges once again gave the victory to him.
Light Heavyweight
The conquest of three belts in the second middleweight led Joe to decide to move to a new division, where other rivals and substantial sums of money were waiting for him.
The first to stand in the way of the Briton was Bernard Hopkins. The fight was a rating, and no titles were at stake. Nevertheless, the fight turned out to be active and spectacular. Already in the first round, Calzaghe was knocked down after a missed right cross from the American. Joe was not too shocked, and therefore Bernard Hopkins did not even try to finish him off. At the end of 12 rounds of the fight, Calzaghe was awarded the victory, although one judge considered that the American was stronger. During the fight, Joe fell below the waist three times. After the first two times, Hopkins was given time to recover, but the third time the referee simply did not notice.
The fight with the best boxer, regardless of category
On November 8, 2008 the duel “Joe Calzaghe - Roy Jones” took place. And again in the first round, the Welshman was knocked down. However, the American could not draw any success from this. All subsequent rounds, Joe went forward and threw a huge number of punches, constantly putting pressure on the opponent. John was not able to adapt to his opponent and eventually lost by unanimous decision.
Life outside the ring
On February 5, 2009, the boxer announced that he was completing his career. Therefore, the battles of Joe Calzaghe we will never see again. Although, as his father Enzo assured, his son could still quite successfully perform for five years.
In retirement, the Welshman became addicted to drugs, but quickly realized that this was not his topic, and was able to return to normal. It should be noted that the promoter from Calzaghe also failed. His company Calzaghe Promotions was not able to reach a high level, even within Britain itself.
As for his personal life, the former champion has two sons, whose mother he divorced in 2005. After that, Joe met with fashion model Joe-Emma Larvin for a long time. This relationship came to an end when Calzaghe became a member of the British dance television show. During the filming, he became interested in the choreographer and dancer Kristina Pshenichnykh. True, it is worth saying that these relations did not last long, and in August 2013 the couple broke up.