Joe Calzaghe relinquishes IBF Super Middleweight title

By Jason Kim: Rather than fight the mandatory IBF Super Middleweight challenger, Robert Stieglitz (29-0, 19 KO’s), Joe Calzaghe has decided to give up the IBF belt, choosing instead, to fight Peter Manfredo Jr., (26-3, 12 KO’s) a fighter mainly known for being on ‘The Contendor,” an American reality based television program, which pits different boxers against each other. According to Calzaghe, he didn’t see the point in fighting the undefeated Stieglitz, considering that he was only popular in Germany.

In comparison, however, Manfredo is quite popular and well known to American audiences, who like his brawling style. With that being said, Manfredo has never fought anyone near the class of Calzaghe, and this bout points to a mismatch, in my estimation. While Manfredo has some good wins on his record, beating Frankie Randall and Scott Pemberton, he has also been beaten twice by Sergio Mora, a weak-punching middleweight. Besides that, Manfredo has lost to Alfonso Gomez, losing by decision in a fight that was shown on “the Contender.” As such, Manfredo still serves a purpose, which is to keep Calzaghe busy, while at the same time making him more widely known to American audiences. In matching him against Manfredo, Calzaghe’s team are making a wise decision, since he will get a chance to look good against Manfredo, and possibly take him out early, likely beating him badly before it’s ultimately stopped.

In his last bout, on October 14, 2006, Calzaghe looked hardly impressive, winning a tough, 12-round decision over Sakio Bika (20-2-2, 13 KO’s), in a fight that was shown both in the UK, and in the United States. Trying hard to impress, perhaps, Calzaghe tried to slug it out with the tough Bika, and took a lot of punishment, in exchange for his efforts. In fact, Calzage looked confused and out of his element, as Bika landed the harder shots while roughing up Calzaghe on the inside. Instead of making adjustments with Bika’s superior inside fighting ability, Calzaghe continued to try and trade with him at close quarters for much of the bout.

In the end, however, Calzaghe finally elected to stay outside, and patiently pile up points by boxing Bila. However, for those who watched the fight in the United States, many of the comments directed at Calzaghe’s performance, were negative, remarking that he looked confused and old. However, instead of fighting a rematch with Bika, Calzaghe opted for a better pay day against the American, Manfredo.

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Posted November 27th, 2006 l 112 views

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