Boxing / Editor / 21 October 2008 / Leave a comment

The British boxing world may never see the like of Joe Cazalghe again, says Richard Douglas as he weights up the leading British fighters of the last hundred years.

Long after the bruises have healed and the fight purses have been banked - or squandered - all that remains of a boxer's career is his legacy.

If, as expected, Joe Calzaghe beats Roy Jones Junior next month he will finish his career with a perfect 46-0-0 record. That will leave him just three wins short of Rocky Marciano's mythical unbeaten tally.

While establishing those impressive statistics, Calzaghe has held a major world title for a decade and beaten most of the big names in his division.

No other British fighter can touch those credentials so how can the 36-year-old not be the best boxer ever to come from these shores?

Many observers have put up a fight.

'Over-protected and under-ambitious,' yell the critics. 'While passing on certain opponents he passed his prime,' they add.

Let's look at the facts.

Schooled by his father throughout his career in a shed of a gym in Newbridge, Calzaghe has built a reputation as a super-fast and super-slick southpaw. He was never that heavy-handed, in fact his fists have proved to be fragile, however a persistent patter of pin-point punches have always been his stock-in-trade.

The destruction of Jeff Lacy was a highlight. The American was highly favoured yet Calzaghe produced a masterclass, connecting with over 1,000 punches to leave Lacy bloodied, bewildered and barely standing at the bell.

Calzaghe also rattled up impressive points wins over Charles Brewer, Mikael Kessler and Bernard Hopkins. The last of those now looks pretty impressive given the Executioner's drubbing of Kelly Pavlik at the weekend.

Calzaghe also proved his bravery when first taking the WBO super-middleweight back in 1997 against Chris Eubank and by getting off the floor to stop a world-class Byron Mitchell in two rounds.

But amongst those names were sprinkled too many lesser lights. Had Calzaghe fought Jones and Hopkins five years ago, at their peak, there would little to debate. But, at that point, the Welshman was busy with the likes of Tocker Pudwill, Mario Viet and Mger Mkrtchian. Who? Exactly.

A great boxing legacy is always defined by beating the elite of your era at their very best. That is why Lennox Lewis and Ken Buchanan are the only real contenders for Calzaghe's modern-day crown.

Lewis cleaned up the heavyweights around the turn of the Millennium and avenged his only two defeats. The self-proclaimed 'pugilist specialist' took risks against the likes of Donovan Ruddock and Michael Grant but he had his fair share of average opponents too. And, one of them, Hasim Rahman, knocked him cold.

Buchanan's record is not as impressive but, boy, was he in a tough era. The Scottish lightweight posted superb wins over Ismael Laguna and Ruben Navarro to win the world title in the early 70s before being stopped by a peak Roberto Duran. There is no shame in that.

The flashy Naseem Hamed could also have claimed to be Britain's best had he managed to move on from defeat against Marco Antonio Barrera.

Lloyd Honeyghan and Randolph Turpin are also worth mentioning but their legacy is based on sensational but single wins - over Don Curry and Sugar Ray Robinson respectively. Neither had the consistency and longevity of Calzaghe. To a lesser extent the same was true of Barry McGuigan, whose star shone brightly but burnt out quickly.

Ricky Hatton could be the most charismatic fighter we have had but he has never really dominated his division and his dismantling at the hands of Floyd Mayweather will always taint his record.

Looking much further back, Ted 'Kid' Lewis fought 300 times in the 1920s, losing only 44 and was stopped just five times. He started a featherweight, made his name at welterweight and lost world title bids at middleweight and light-heavyweight. But perhaps Jimmy Wilde has better credentials. He recorded 99 KOs in 137 wins, taking the British and European titles before becoming the first world flyweight champ in 1916.

In this observer's humble opinion, Calzaghe just edges Lewis as the best British fighter of the modern age because of that unbeaten record.

You could argue that we have never taken entirely taken either man to our hearts. But, as the heavyweight division misses a Lewis, so the British boxing scene will probably long for a Calzaghe in years to come.

Fighters who leave the game unbeaten and unbroken with a healthy body and healthy bank balance are as rare as Tottenham victories right now. We may not see Calzaghe's like again and that is why we should both mourn and celebrate the passing of this superb career.