by John Atchison

Created on: February 24, 2009   Last Updated: August 04, 2011

He was simply known as, " The Pride of Wales " in boxing circles.   A champion cut from the mold of the old time champs like Rocky Marciano.  Tough as nails and able to throw a devastating punch.  Joe Calzaghe was a throwback to boxers from a different era.  He entered the ring with little pomp or circumstance like many of the showboats of today like to do.  He was strictly about getting between the ropes and getting the job done.  He will be remembered as one of the best to ever do that too, as he retired an undefeated champion.   

Famed ring announcer Michael Buffer would make him sound like legend as he would walk down the aisle to the ring, and you know what, he was.  Joe Calzaghe pulled off something that not many great champions can say.  He retired from the ring in February of 2009 as an undefeated champion, but not a paper one.  Calzaghe took on every great fighter during his time.  With defeats of the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones Jr, Mikkel Kessler, and Jeff Lacy, he cemented his legacy as pound for pound one of the greatest champions of all time.  With that said, let us get to know a little more about the Pride of Wales, Joe Calzaghe.

Joe Calzaghe was born in 1972 in London, England. He considers himself to be a boxer of Welsh decent. He has been a man very closely connected to his family. As proof of this, make note of the fact that his father has trained him since he decided to turn professional, and is the top attraction at the gym his father runs, which incidentally boasts a number of other top prospects.  He has never deviated from the ways his father instilled in him coming up, and many believe this is part of what has made him great and given him a solid foundation.

Among his many accomplishments, Calzaghe was known as the Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight champion. He also held many other titles during his reign as well including the WBO, WBA, WBC, IBF, Ring Magazine and the British Super Middleweight championships. There is one mark that put him in a very elite class, and that is the fact that he had the distinction of having the longest consecutive title reign of any boxer in a particular weight class, having passed boxing royalty Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano. He  held the WBO super middleweight title belt for 10 years running, a stunning accomplishment when you think about it.

The one knock on this great fighter was that most of his accomplishments

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