by Neil Dixon

Created on: May 14, 2007

Joe Calzaghe is the most under-rated fighter that has ever graced the Super Middle Weight boxing division. He is arguably one of the best pound for pound' fighters to have ever lived. Calzaghe is one of the longest serving world champions ever to grace the boxing world, with an unbeaten twenty defences of his WBO crown. He has the heart of a lion and an appetite for success that is unsurpassed. Many boxers have learnt the hard way that Calzaghe is a real force to be reckoned with.

Joe Calzaghe was born in Hammersmith, London in 1972. However, he has spent most of his life living in Wales, and considers himself very much a Welsh national.
He first donned a pair of boxing gloves at the age of nine and very quickly showed signs of a talent that would lead him to the very top of the Super middle weight division.

His boxing debut came way back in 1993, on the under card bill of a Frank Bruno fight. In his early career, he knocked out all challengers who faced him, but was always denied the chance at a World championship crown. Calzaghe had nowhere to turn. Every door seemed locked to this boxing talent, until one day he switched managers. Terry Lawless and Mickey Duff had had their chance of securing Calzaghe the title fight he so desperately wanted, so Joe signed up with Frank Warren and the Sports Network' team. Within just three fights, Joe won his first world title and almost fourteen years later has never looked back.

Calzaghe still has a dream. He aims to unify all the Super Middle weight world championship belts, and at the age of 35 still shows the desire and hunger he did when starting out his career. The secret to his success with regards to maintaining such high fitness and motivation for one who is nearing the normal fighters retirement age stems from his no nonsense lifestyle. Joe doesn't live the high celebrity lifestyle of other sporting heroes. He stays at home, within the Welsh valleys. He trains daily and is always searching for new skills to add to his already impressive boxing talents. You will never hear the headline "Calzaghe in drunken street brawl" or "Calzaghe's weight spirals out of control" as you would with the more showy boxing celebrities. He is a man on a mission and knows how to conduct himself properly, giving himself the best possible chance of making his dream a reality.

Many fighters who have faced Calzaghe in the ring have called him a Slappy' puncher during the pre-fight hype. They will tell the world's media that he hits like a

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