Joe Calzaghe cemented his legacy as the most accomplished super-middleweight
fighter in history when he defeated Mikkel Kessler of Denmark in the early
hours this morning. With a monumental points win, unanimously delivered by
three ringside judges, the 35-year-old Welshman added the 28-year-old Dane’s
World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) belts to those
of the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) and The Ring, which he already held.
Even his sceptics, of which there have been many over the years, will have
to acknowledge his supremacy now.
The crowd of more than 50,000 inside the Millennium Stadium, setting a new
attendance record for a boxing match indoors in Europe as the Millennium
roof was closed, generated a fervent, partisan atmosphere on an
unforgettable night for Calzaghe.
Faced with a younger, more powerful man, he had to overcome adversity in the
early rounds when defeat was a real possibility before he made his superior
boxing skills count.
The Welshman walked through the Dane’s best right hands, which he threw in the
form of heavy crosses, straight and to the point of the chin, and savage
uppercuts, which appeared to debilitate Calzaghe on several occasions. But
he was simply not to be denied. Kessler would be the champion this morning,
if he had faced any other super middleweight in the world, but the Welshman,
clearly, is a man apart.
“I landed some clean shots in the fourth and fifth rounds and I feel that
when I put him under pressure my window came,” said the beaten Dane, whose
status was elevated in defeat, such was the quality of the fight and the
hardness of both men’s resolve. “Whenever I tried to get my combinations
going, however, Joe got away. I have nothing but the deepest respect for him
as a fighter and as a man. His power was not that hard, I didn’t think, but
when he punches you 20 times on the head that causes confusion! I haven’t
thought about my future yet because Joe has just crushed my dreams. But
tonight I lost to a great fighter.”
This was not in dispute when the 12 rounds were over, for the encounter had
offered up a brilliant combination of superb technique and awesome heart and
determination which held the Millennium crowd in thrall. The most remarkable
aspect perhaps was that Calzaghe was engaged in his 21st defence of the WBO
title, which he won from Chris Eubank on October 11 1997. If longevity has
its place, as Martin Luther King once suggested, then Calzaghe’s place at
the pinnacle of his profession – and guaranteed entry into the Hall of Fame
in Canastota – is secure beyond question.
“This was one of the toughest fights of my career, though I still maintain
that Eubank was the toughest, the first time in my life that I ever had to
do 12 rounds. But these 12 rounds were hard and special, too, and I showed
again that I never give less than 110 per cent because I’m a warrior and
this is what warriors do,” said Calzaghe. “Mikkel Kessler caught me with
good shots throughout the fight. He stunned me and I stunned him. If I’d
boxed and used my skills, I’d have won the fight easier but it’s just the
way I am. There’s something in me that likes a tear-up and the crowd got
value for money tonight.”
What they witnessed was simply one of the great nights of British boxing, up
there with Randolph Turpin’s defeat of Sugar Ray Robinson, Ken Buchanan’s
points win over Ismael Laguna in Puerto Rico, John H Stracey’s stunning
knockout of Jose Napoles, Barry McGuigan’s emotional conquest over Eusebio
Pedroza, Lloyd Honeyghan’s demolition of Don Curry, Nigel Benn’s relentless
slugfest with Gerald McClellan and Ricky Hatton’s relentless dismantlement
of Kostya Tszyu, along with Calzaghe's own annihilation of Jeff Lacy last
year in Manchester.
“This is my best moment ever in boxing,” said Frank Warren, who promoted the
Cardiff show and has been Calzaghe’s promoter through the majority of his
14-year career, which began on the undercard of Lennox Lewis-Frank Bruno on
October 1 1993 at the old Cardiff Arms Park. “For me, Joe has proved tonight
and over the course of his career that he is one of the top pound-for-pound
fighters in the world today. In my opinion, there is no one who’s better and
I include Floyd Mayweather [who will defend his world welterweight title
against Hatton on December 8 in Las Vgeas].”
The Viking Warrior came to the ring with a professional record of 39 straight
wins and 29 stoppages and was recognised widely as the second best
super-middleweight in the world. American TV network HBO, which televised
the bout live coast-to-coast in the United States, had showcased Kessler’s
previous two bouts, a third round knockout of Germany’s Markus Beyer, which
won him the WBC title, and a 12-round destruction of Librado Andrade, the durable
Mexican, eight months ago.
“I worked the fight between Kessler and Andrade for HBO [as a ringside
analyst] and was very impressed by what I saw,” said Emanuel Steward, the
former trainer of Lennox Lewis, as he took up his ringside commentary
position. “This was a fight that needed to be made. Clearly, they are the
best two fighters in their weight division and right now it’s a fight the
public want to see. I’m excited and there’s a real, powerful energy in the
air.”
Calzaghe was able to feed off this energy but, such was Kessler’s quality in
the early rounds, that the crowd had almost fallen silent by the fifth
round. The Welsh champion had been relaxed as he left his hotel near to the
arena, travelling in a car driven by his girlfriend, Jo-Emma, and with his
sons, Joe Jr and Connor, in the back seat.
But from the moment the first bell rang, he was all business and he needed to
be. He backed up the Dane with a series of snappy right jabs out of his
southpaw stance and a light left, which glanced off Kessler’s head. But his
command of the ring would be disputed throughout, especially when the Dane
got his left jab working, augmented by a big, heavy right. The early
momentum seemed to be with Calzaghe, though he took a punishing right and
left to the head as the first round wore on and before it was over the
Dane’s jab had quickly become a worrying weapon.
Foolishly, Calzaghe dropped his hands in the second round and he paid the
price, getting nailed by a hard left jab to the face and a follow-up right
to the chin. Momentarily, the Welshman’s legs appeared to wobble as he fell
against the ropes and the danger and quality of the Dane was emphasised.
Ferociously, Calzaghe fought back in round three when the Dane slipped on to
the canvas – American referee Mike Ortega, rightly, did not pick up a count
– and the Welshman backed him against the ropes with a sustained burst of
punches. Some of them did not land but several hard lefts penetrated
Kessler’s guard and Calzaghe’s jab began to work overtime. Still, it was a
hard fight for both men with no firm foothold gained and, significantly, no
quarter given.
The ebb and flow continued in round four when Kessler landed two powerful
punches, a short right cross and two right uppercuts, which appeared to take
a considerable toll on Calzaghe. His workrate dropped and Kessler looked
more controlled at this point. Somewhat ragged and crude, Calzaghe had to
suck it up, in the words of Muhammad Ali’s old trainer, Angelo Dundee, and
the fight was matching expectations. Now Kessler was backing up Calzaghe,
whose punches had lost some of their sting and another right uppercut by the
Dane found the mark. Calzaghe was also nailed by a Kessler right cross and
his loose defence was hurting him enormously, though not nearly as much as
Kessler’s hard, accurate punches. These were not good times for the Welshman.
The sixth round was better for Calzaghe. He started to see and slip Kessler’s
shots and the Dane appeared to take a breather. Belatedly utilising his
skills, Calzaghe bossed Kessler with his sharp right jab and landed several
straight lefts. He carried his momentum into the seventh and, suddenly from
a position of real vulnerability, a subtle shift took place and Calzaghe
assumed control, but never with impunity because Kessler was simply too
good, too strong. Calzaghe’s range of movement and the distance at which he
engaged was much improved but the Dane’s right hand rocked back Calzaghe
midway through the round. It was a close one to score but the Welshman
perhaps just shaded it.
In the eighth his confidence grew again as he slipped Kessler’s early battery
of blows, then stopped him in his tracks with a left hand into the pit of
his stomach. Calzaghe kept punching and hurt Kessler with a fast combination
of hooks before the referee warned him for throwing to the back of the head.
But Kessler’s resistance was beginning to wane and a bruise came up by the
corner of his left eye as Calzaghe continued to come on strong. If there was
a single, overriding key to the victory which Calzaghe was earning the hard
way, it would have to be his magnificent resolve, for he simply would not
accept defeat, even as his chin had to come through another serious test in
the 10th round when he took two more brutal shots, a right and a left in
close, which would have put any other super-middleweight in the world flat
on his back.
The quality of the action was almost breathtaking and Calzaghe boxed
brilliantly again in the penultimate round, hurting Kessler once more with a
left to the body. Both men had been taken into a dark place, which Calzaghe
had predicted, and it was he who emerged by virtue of his great will.
Kessler got through with another of his dangerous right uppercuts in the
final round and he closed with a hard right cross before the two men
embraced in the centre of the ring. It was a superb fight and, as the crowd
dispersed into the Cardiff night, they did so with renewed respect for both
men. Calzaghe and Kessler also had renewed respect for each other.
“I only want to fight the top names now,” said Calzaghe. “Fighters like
Bernard Hopkins, who has avoided me for years. This would be a perfect
fight. Tonight I may have boxed for the last time as a super-middleweight,
I’ll have to wait and see in which direction I will go after a nice
Christmas with my family, relaxing and making up for the sacrifices of the
past few months, which thankfully are now all worthwhile.”
If he has boxed his last as a super-middleweight, he has left behind a
prodigious body of work, climaxed dramatically by the strength of his
performance against Kessler in the early hours this morning.
