How Good Was WBO, WBA, WBC & IBF Champ Calzaghe?

In 2014, when WBO, WBA, WBC, and IBF Super Middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe was inducted into the IBF Hall of Fame, I thought, “Hopkins and De La Hoya were inducted with more press releases, and Joe beat Hop, who beat Oscar!”

Calzaghe had an amateur record of 110-10, winning 1991 ABA Welterweight, 1992 ABA Light Middleweight, and 1993 ABA Middleweight honors. His father, Enzo, was his trainer.

In Calzaghe’s fourteenth fight, he won the vacant British Super Middleweight title, stopping Stephen Wilson, 11-1, in 8 rounds in October of 1995.

This southpaw was called “Pride of Wales Italian Dragon” by some being from Newbridge, Wales. Who would have thought this was just the first of many titles he would gain in his career?

Three fights later, Calzaghe made his first defense of the hit British title, stopping Mark “Del” Delaney, 21-0, in five rounds in April of 1996. Four fights later, he stopped another unbeaten opponent in Tyler “Working Man” Hughes, 12-0.

Next, in what amounted to an elimination fight for the WBO World title, he stopped Brazil’s Luciano “Todo Duro” Torres, 45-2, in June of 1997.

Four months later, he won the vacant WBO World Super Middleweight title, winning a lopsided decision over the UK’s Chris “Simply the Best” Eubank, 45-2-2, improving his record to 23-0.

Calzaghe made 17 defenses of the WBO title defeating opponents Juan Carlos Gimenez, 51-8-3, Robin “Grim Reaper” Reid, 26-1-1, David “Jedi” Starie, 22-1, Omar Shieka, 20-1, Mario Veit, 30-0, Will “Kid Fire” McIntyre, 21-2, and former IBF World champion Charles “The Hatchet” Brewer, 37-8, improving to 33-0.

In May of 2005, Calzaghe, in a rematch with Viet, 45-1, he traveled to Germany, scoring a stoppage in 6 rounds. In March of 2006, he added the IBF title, defeating Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy, 21-0. He added the WBA and WBC titles, defeating Mikkel “Viking Warrior” Kessler 39-0, improving his record to 44-0.

At this time in Calzaghe’s career, he decided to make his USA debut at light heavyweight against Bernard “Executioner” Hopkins, 48-4-1, in Las Vegas, Nevada, winning a split decision. Hopkins would go on to win the light heavyweight world title.

In Calzaghe’s final career fight, he defeated former four-division world champion Roy Jones, Jr., 52-4, at New York’s Madison Square Garden in November of 2008, improving to 46-0 with 32 stoppages. In 2014, he was inducted into the IBHOF.