Joe Calzaghe is one of the most celebrated British fighters of the century, with a long list of top opponents on his record.
Calzaghe famously went his entire career without losing a fight. There were 46 in all and he had his hand raised after them all, the majority of which were at super middleweight against tough men such as Chris Eubank, Mikkel Kessler and Robin Reid.
For the final two fights of his career, he moved up to light heavyweight and kept on winning, first beating Bernard Hopkins and then overcome the great multi-weight world champion Roy Jones Jr in 2008 before walking away from the sport for good.
In an interview with The Ring Magazine, it was Jeff Lacy who Calzaghe named as having the best chin of any man he faced.
“I’ve fought quite a few people with good chins … but the amount of times I hit Jeff Lacy and he didn’t go down.
To be honest, I hit him over a thousand times. How he stood up to that beating I’ll never know. So I have to give him some kudos for taking the beating he took. That was my perfect night, I think. I just brought my “A” game.”
Calzaghe fought Lacy in March 2006 when he defended his WBO strap and added the American’s IBF belt to his collection after a superb display of punching speed from his tricky southpaw stance.
Come the final bell, the scorecards read 119–105, 119–10, and 119–107 in his favour, and the much hyped Lacy never went on to reach the highest he had once been tipped for.
