joe calzaghe hall of fame

The decision still rankles with both Calzaghe and his father, although Joe has credited it as a possible spur to his future sustained success. “In the first 25 years I fought I’d been dropped two times. I thought the decision was a bit dodgy. 1; 2; 3; Next. Probably the best British fighter I have ever seen. It was a blemish some held against him, implying he had been carefully handled to avoid the best U.S. fighters despite the fact he had repeatedly tried to make such fights and in fact had destroyed Jeff Lacy, the American who held the IBF title, a year earlier. “What got me through was hunger and will. By far Britain’s largest metropolis, it is also the country’s economic, transportation, and cultural centre. “Adrian Opreda,” Calzaghe says immediately when asked if he can recall his opponent’s name. I kept believing and I finally got my dream fights at the end. He was named as an inductee to the International Boxing Hall of Fame at the first opportunity (five years after he stopped boxing), joining the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya in the class of 2014. Calzaghe was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2014. When I got back to Wales, I told myself I wouldn’t lose again. After that, I’d had enough.”. Undisputed … 1972) is undoubtedly the greatest fighter produced by Wales since World War II, and arguably the finest from the UK. “Nigel was shot by then, and Steve was old, so I understood his decision. I trained like a challenger even after I was world champion. In such fights, Calzaghe could have used his skills to stay out of trouble and claim easy wins, but a combination of his fighting heart and the fact that he always had to try to win over the doubters meant he was drawn into thrilling dust-ups. What would your criteria being for inducting someone into a boxing HOF? First Prev 2 of 3 Go to page. “Steve Collins didn’t want to fight me, so he gave up the title,” Calzaghe said. At the age of nine, he fought his first boxing match but lost. In the days leading up to the fight, Eubank made a promise to Calzaghe, which all these years later Calzaghe admits he delivered on. I’d have been a good fighter it I wasn’t hurt all the time. It was the 46th and final professional victory of a 15-year career in which he had successfully defended the super middleweight title 21 consecutive times over a 10-year reign and then moved up to 175 to defeat two legends of their sport, Bernard Hopkins and Jones, before deciding he’d had enough. Calzaghe was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2014. With a 100% career record showing 46 wins and an 11-year reign as world champion to his name, it is difficult to believe that the right of the Newbridge man to lay claim to such honours can ever have been doubted. Yet when asked about victories, Joe Calzaghe first recalls defeat. I was 10, and I cried even after my coach told me one of the judges was the other boy’s father. How do I judge this when there's no criteria given? Joe Calzaghe still remembers the first one 31 years ago. Calzaghe focused on keeping his tear ducts from flowing by constantly training inside an unheated, hardscrabble shack in Tre Celyn, South Wales, a barely standing building with a corrugated tin roof that his father and lifelong trainer, Enzo, called the Newbridge Boxing Club. He made his debut less than a month later against Paul Hanlon, who didn’t last a round with him, at Cardiff Arms Park on the undercard of the Lenox Lewis-Frank Bruno heavyweight title fight, which was one of the biggest British promotions of the time. Promoter Frank Warren had manoeuvred the 25-year-old into line for a WBO world title shot, but champion Steve Collins – who had unsuccessfully chased a big-money bout with Roy Jones Jr – chose to retire rather than face the fast-rising youngster. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Despite his remarkable successes, though, Calzaghe was denied the opportunity to represent Great Britain at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics because of politics and petty vindictiveness from Welsh amateur officials, who refused to put him forward. Weary of criticism and his aching hands but still in search of the taste of victory, Calzaghe knew his career needed a final jolt and so he gave it one, moving up to 175 to face Hopkins for the RING light heavyweight title on April 19, 2008, in Las Vegas. “I won my first schoolboy title when I was 13. Eubank was past his best and struggled to make the weight at short notice, but the old warrior lived up to his promise to take the young challenger “into the trenches”. Former champion Chris Eubank stepped in to contest the vacant belt with Calzaghe at the Sheffield Arena. Joe Calzaghe, (born March 23, 1972, London, England), Welsh professional boxer. The legendary promoter and popular Welsh fighter join Oscar de la Hoya and Felix Trinidad in the list of inductees for 2014 and will attend the 25th Annual Hall of Fame Weekend on June 5-8 in Canastota, New York, with the culmination of a week of festivities being the Official Enshrinement Ceremony on the Hall of Fame Museum Grounds. But Calzaghe took him apart, finding the perfect mix of boxing and brawling in a display described as perhaps the greatest ever by a British fighter. Yet Calzaghe remained on the fringes, a victim of boxing’s age of alphabet titles. He kept winning, but – as the years passed by without the career-defining fights he craved – Calzaghe encountered difficulties including failing motivation, renewed injury worries and a messy divorce. Joe Calzaghe and promoter Barry Hearn and inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame Promoter Barry Hearn and former undefeated two-weight world champion Joe Calzaghe … Calzaghe was born in Hammersmith, London ... Roy Jones Jr., and 36-year-old Joe Calzaghe had reached an agreement to fight for The Ring Light Heavyweight Championship in New York City at Madison Square Garden on 20 September 2008 on HBO PPV. Despite 44 consecutive victories and an undisputed world championship, Calzaghe had never fought in the United States. In the five years that have passed Calzaghe said he has not been tempted to follow the footsteps of so many of his predecessors and come out of retirement, instead opting to remain one of only a handful of world champions to retire undefeated. I can’t remember most of the amateur fights I won (110 of 120), but I still remember what losing felt like. "I think it's amazing to be inducted. Calzaghe doubters will always claim that he did not face the best of his era when they themselves were at their peak and that he only fought when conditions were in his favour. Four fights and 18 months later, Calzaghe would prove Warren right, winning the vacant WBO super middleweight title by defeating Eubank after Collins chose to retire claiming an injury prevented him from going through with an already arranged title defense against Calzaghe. I’m going with a yes. With all the cortisone injections in my fists and the bad elbow and all, when I quit I was done.”. In the end he had done what he’d always hoped for. Country Flag. Enzo followed his son there and began to learn the ropes as a trainer, laying the groundwork for one of the most famous and successful father-son relationships in the history of boxing. “Would I have been as determined if I’d gone to Barcelona and maybe won a gold medal and been given a million dollars to sign? You can also purchase the current issue on that page. It was a blessing to get those fights late in my career. The undefeated former world champion joins fellow Welshmen Jimmy Wilde, Freddie Welsh and Jim Driscoll inducted into the Hall of Fame. There's reasons for these and not all Joe's fault either but at some point the division had at the same time: I voted yes. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joe-Calzaghe. So it came as a shock to British boxing fans when Warren announced upon signing Calzaghe that “Joe is a far better prospect [than Benn had been].”. It made me train harder. Joe Calzaghe, in the end, would be anything but ordinary. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. Calzaghe retired in February 2009 with an undefeated record in 46 career bouts, including 32 victories by knockout. Ron Borges is a columnist for the Boston Herald and hosts “Mouthpiece Boxing,” a weekly radio show on Yahoo!Radio Network Fridays at 10 p.m. READ: 2014 Hall of Fame: Oscar De La Hoya – At peace with himself, READ: 2014 Hall of Fame: Felix Trinidad – Favorite Son, READ: 2014 Hall of Fame: Richard Steele – Stainless Steele. The start of a run of consecutive title defenses the likes of which only four prize fighters have ever exceeded. I weighed about 30 kilos (66 pounds). I'm so happy right now, and I can't wait to come to Canastota [New York]. Chris was coming back from losing twice to Steve, but I was more apprehensive about Chris than I would have been fighting Collins.

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