Joe Calzaghe

His paternal grandparents settled in Britain after the Second World War, during which his grandfather Giuseppe had served in the 12th Infantry Division Sassari, but had returned to live in Italy by the end of the 1950s.

Calzaghe's father worked several jobs as a teenager in Italy, including as a barman, a chef, and a cleaner, before travelling Europe as a busker.

He eventually arrived back in Britain to visit family in Bournemouth.

It was during this time that Calzaghe's parents met; his mother hailed from the mining town of Markham, Caerphilly.

The couple married, and briefly moved to Sardinia, but returned shortly after when Calzaghe's mother became homesick.

They settled in London, his father working two jobs in a factory and a bed and breakfast while his mother worked as a secretary in the offices of production company 20th Century Fox.

Joseph William Calzaghe (born 23 March 1972) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2008.

He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including unified and lineal titles at super-middleweight, and the Ring magazine light-heavyweight title.

Calzaghe is the longest-reigning super-middleweight world champion in boxing history, having held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title for over 10 years and defending it against 20 opponents (a record in the division, shared with Sven Ottke) before moving up to light-heavyweight.

As his super-middleweight and light-heavyweight reigns overlapped, he retired with the longest continual time as world champion of any active boxer at the time.

Calzaghe was the first boxer to unify three of the four major world titles (World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, and WBO) at super-middleweight, and was the inaugural Ring champion in that weight class.

Calzaghe was born in Hammersmith Hospital in March 1972, before his father decided to move the family back to Sardinia at the end of the year, living in his grandfather's home in Bancali.

However, his mother again pushed to return to Britain and the family lived with his maternal grandmother in Markham for three years before they moved into their own home on a council estate in Pentwynmawr, near the town of Newbridge, in Caerphilly County Borough, South Wales.

He attended the local school, Pentwynmawr Primary, along with his two sisters, Melissa and Sonia, and developed a keen interest in playing football.

He joined Pentwynmawr F.C. at under-10s level, playing as a midfielder and scored consistently during his early years.

At the age of eight, he was given a children's boxing toy that developed his interest in the sport and his father made a punching bag from an old carpet.

He joined his first boxing club, Newbridge Amateur Boxing Club at ten years old and the sport quickly took priority for the young Calzaghe as he gave up playing football after two years.

Calzaghe moved on to Oakdale Comprehensive School at 11, but was targeted by bullies as a teenager, becoming the target of regular verbal abuse that left him isolated.

Although the culprits left him alone after a year, Calzaghe later admitted that he "never recovered from the abuse" and left school without sitting any of his GCSEs.

In 120 amateur contests, Calzaghe won four schoolboy ABA titles, followed by three consecutive senior British ABA titles (British Championships) between 1990 and 1993, which were won in three different weight categories, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight.

He reportedly had an amateur record of 110–10.

Calzaghe received his last two defeats in a boxing ring at the hands of Michael Smyth in the 1990 Welsh ABA Final, and against Romanian amateur Adrian Preda at the 1990 European Junior Championships in Prague.

In September 1993 Calzaghe was signed up and made his professional debut at Cardiff Arms Park on the Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno bill the following month, halting 23 fight veteran Paul Hanlon in one round.

By September 1995, Calzaghe had won thirteen out of thirteen fights, including seven in the first round and two in the second, including quickfire victories over the highly experienced American duo of Frank Minton and Robert Curry, with only the fully fledged British Light Heavyweight Bobbie Joe Edwards lasting the distance.

In October 1995, Calzaghe won the vacant British super-middleweight title, stopping the previously unbeaten Stephen Wilson in the eighth round.

At the end of 1995, Calzaghe was voted Young Boxer of the Year by the Professional Boxing Association and the Boxing Writers' Club, with Barry McGuigan top tipping Calzaghe for 1996: "He punches ferociously, moves superbly and has the best of the European technique and US aggression."

After beginning 1996 with two more quick knockouts over Guy Stanford and Anthony Brooks, he successfully defended his British title with an easier-than-expected fifth round stoppage of the tough undefeated puncher Mark Delaney (21–0).

Despite Delaney being a good fighter in his own right, Calzaghe's critics said that he had still not really been tested.

Calzaghe said in reply that he could only beat whoever was out there and prepared to fight him.

Calzaghe rounded off the year with victories over two experienced opponents in Warren Stowe and Pat Lawlor.

In November 1996, Calzaghe moved to Frank Warren's stable.

Between 2006 and 2008, Calzaghe was ranked by The Ring as one of the world's top ten active boxers, pound for pound, reaching a peak ranking of third in January 2009.

In 2007, Calzaghe won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, making him the first Welsh winner of this award since David Broome in 1960.

Already an MBE, he was elevated to CBE in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours.

He retired in February 2009 with an undefeated record of 46 wins, and as a reigning world champion.

As of 2022, BoxRec ranks Calzaghe as the twenty-fourth greatest fighter of all time, pound for pound, as well as the second-greatest European boxer of all time.

Calzaghe was the first person to be awarded the Freedom of Caerphilly County Borough, in 2009.

Calzaghe was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2014.

He was nicknamed the "Pride of Wales" and the "Italian Dragon".

Calzaghe was born in Hammersmith, London, to an Italian (Sardinian) father, Enzo, and a Welsh mother, Jackie.