Joe Calzaghe fought a standout list of names in his career including Roy Jones Jr, Bernard Hopkins and Chris Eubank.
Calzaghe is widely regarded as one of the greatest British fighters of all time having managed to go undefeated in a total of 46 fights, 32 of which he won by KO.
In that time he held the WBO super middleweight title from 1997 to 2008 and was unified from 2006 to 2008, with notable wins over the likes of Eubank, Jeff Lacey, Mikkel Kessler and Hopkins. He then moved up in 2008 and in the same year became The Ring’s light heavyweight champion with a victory over the great Roy Jones Jr.
Calzaghe was known for his fast hands and the high amount of punches he threw and was only knocked to the canvas a couple of times despite the quality of opposition he faced.
Byron Mitchell, Hopkins and Jones were amongst those to have him down but none of them he considered to be the hardest puncher he ever faced. Speaking to The Ring Magazine, he instead went with Charles Brewer, a man he beat back in 2002.
“Kessler hit hard, but I’d probably go with Charles Brewer. My game plan was to outbox him, but Charles Brewer I had seen knock out lots of guys.
“So, I figure I’ll outbox him. I remember in the first round he came out and whacked me right in the solar plexus. If you watch the tape, you see me take a deep breath and then go toe to toe for the rest of the fight. He buzzed me up a few times in that fight. Heavy-handed and dangerous from the first round till the 12th.”
‘The Hatchet’ Brewer from Philadelphia twice challenged for a world title at 168 pounds, losing to Calzaghe and then Mario Veit. He finished up in 2005 with a record of 40 wins, 28 knockouts, from 51 fights.
