6. Joe Calzaghe (46-0-0, 32 KO)

Born March 23, 1972

 

"Joseph William Calzaghe" CBE was never beaten as a professional, and there are only a handful of people who can say that.  He was rated by "Ring Magazine" as pound for pound one of the top 10 boxers in the world.

 

Joe Calzaghe presents a significant conundrum for boxing historians.  On one hand, he was an undefeated champion who made 22 title defenses and beat such legends as Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones Jr. and Chris Eubank.  On the other hand, those guys were all aging and declining when he beat them, and he was a notoriously protected fighter, only fighting significant opposition in his last six fights.  He only fought outside of Europe twice—in his final two bouts.  Overall, though, he also beat solid contenders Mikkel Kessler, Sakio Bika and Jeff Lacy and clearly deserves a place among the all-time greats.

 

He is sometimes referred to as the 'Italian Dragon' in reference to his mixed heritage (the dragon being both a Welsh emblem and a Sardinian myth), or the 'Pride of Wales.' He is currently the Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight champion. He is also the former WBO, WBA, WBC, IBF, The Ring Magazine and the British Super Middleweight champion.

 

Calzaghe is the longest reigning world champion in recent years, having held the WBO super middleweight title for over ten years until he relinquished the title to concentrate on fighting at light-heavyweight. As his super-middleweight and light-heavyweight reigns overlap, he has had the longest continual time as world champion of any currently active fighter. He is part of the Team Calzaghe based at the Newbridge boxing club.

 

In 2007, Calzaghe became BBC Sports Personality of the Year on December 9, beating Ricky Hatton and Lewis Hamilton by gaining 28.19% of the public vote. This made Calzaghe the first Welsh winner of this award since show jumper David Broome in 1960. He has also been awarded the Young Boxer of the Year Award in 1995.

 

Calzaghe holds notable wins over Chris Eubank, Byron Mitchell, Omar Sheika, Jeff Lacy, Mikkel Kessler, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, Jr.