Retired two-weight world champion Nigel Benn believes there is just one fighter in boxing history that would have defeated each of the iconic ‘Four Kings’.
‘The Four Kings’, a legendary quartet of fighters that was made up of Sugar Ray Leonard, ‘Marvellous’ Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns provided boxing fans with some of the sport’s most memorable moments throughout the 1980s.
They faced each other on at least one occasion each throughout the course of their respective careers, but perhaps the most iconic showdown that took place between them came in 1980 when Leonard sensationally forced Duran to quit in what fans know now as the ‘No Mas’ fight.
Despite this, British boxing legend Nigel Benn believes there is one fighter in particular that would have defeated each of the ‘Four Kings’ in a shock claim.
In an interview with The Sun, Benn didn’t hesitate to name Welsh boxing icon Joe Calzaghe as the man that would have had what it took to get the better of Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Duran.
“Old timers will tell you [Calzaghe] would never have lived with Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler or Tommy ‘Hitman’ Hearns. I disagree — Joe would have beaten them all.”
“How many fighters would love to finish with a record like Joe’s? Outside of Wales, I don’t think he got the recognition he deserved. 46-fight unbeaten is a huge achievement. I don’t think we will ever see his like again.”
Calzaghe is often regarded as being one of, if not the greatest British fighter of all time. ‘The Pride of Wales’ remained unbeaten throughout the course of his 15-year professional career, which spanned between 1993 and 2008.
He holds the record for being the longest reigning super-middleweight champion of all time, successfully defending his WBO crown no less than 20 times over the course of ten years.
After unifying the WBC, WBA and WBO 168lb titles with a victory over Mikkel Kessler in 2007, Calzaghe made the move up to light-heavyweight where he would defeat both Roy Jones Jr and Bernard Hopkins in 2008, announcing his retirement in February of 2009 with an unbeaten record of 46-0.
