By Liam Santiago: If I asked you to name five great fighters that Joe Calzaghe beat to cement his name in boxing history, who would you say? Kessler must be one. Hopkins, Eubank, although both past their best. That is about where it ends. Personally, I am a massive fan of Calzaghe and his style but did he really challenge himself against the best? Will he be remembered for his undefeated record or the names that are not on his record?

Calzaghe first hit the world stage when he beat Chris Eubank in 1997 for the WBO super middleweight title. However, this was not the Eubank most of us like to remember. The Eubank that face Calzaghe was a ‘post Watson’ Eubank. After a battle with Michael Watson, which left him brain damaged, Eubank preferred not be the aggressor. His fighting spirit had gone. Also, when Calzaghe faced him he was in his declining years. Calzaghe went on to make many defences against unknown boxers.

Although he was on the world stage, Calzaghe never really gripped the hearts of the British public the way fellow Britain Ricky Hatton did. It was not until 2006 when Calzaghe stepped up to face the ‘new Mike Tyson’, Jeff Lacy. This was the career defining fight for the Welsh man. According to the press Lacy was a machine. Untouchable. Lacy was beaten over twelve rounds by Calzaghe and has never really lived up to his hype. He has since been easily beaten by Jermaine Taylor and an ageing Roy Jones Jnr. So, as we look back now, that bout was in no way ‘career defining’.

The skill and talent is obvious with Calzaghe, his biggest downfall was getting him to fight. Names that could replace the likes of Saskio Bika and Peter Manfredo on his record are Jermaine Taylor, Winky Wright, Chad Dawson, Glenn Johnson, Kelly Pavlik and Carl Froch. However, he did claim a good win against solid champion Mikell Kessler. Kessler was unbeaten and held the titles Calzaghe wanted. However, Kessler is not that good. Saying this will shock many people but who has beat? He is a good comparison to the Kotelnik of the light welterweight division. Good at everything but not great.

After Kessler came Bernard Hopkins. I saw Hopkins as the winner, but hey, that’s boxing. But, Calzaghe should be winning clearly against a 45 year old man whom he had to low blow. After Hopkins Calzaghe snuffed a bout against Pavlik or Dawson or a rematch against Hopkins and fought an old Roy Jones Jnr.

Calzaghe has had a long career which has been stretched out against mostly B, C and even D class fighters. Another fighter who gets much crtitism for his level of opposition is Floyd Mayweather. Floyd might not have fought everybody at the top, but he certainly has fought tough opposition. Lets remember Calzaghe did not retire as a champion. He had to vacate his belts because he would have had to fight the elite at the end of his career.

I just think Calzaghe might be remembered for what he did not do rather than what he did do.