Joe Calzaghe retired with an undefeated record of 46-0, but super-middleweight rival Carl Froch believes that the ‘Pride of Wales’ had a lucky escape in one of his victories.
The Newbridge-born southpaw famously made 21 defences of the WBO super-middleweight world title during his career, overcoming names such as Chris Eubank, Mikkel Kessler, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr– establishing himself as one of the greatest British fighters of all time.
However, despite numerous callouts from fellow British super-middleweight fan-favourite Carl Froch, Calzaghe never collided with ‘The Cobra’ – a fight which some believe could have cost him his unbeaten run.
Whilst Froch believes the Welshman was afraid to face him, Calzaghe maintains that showdowns with Kessler, Hopkins and Jones were bigger opportunities and that Froch had not earned his shot at that point in time.
In an interview with The Ring, Froch stated his belief that Calzaghe was fortunate to retire with his undefeated record, recalling the time he was tasked with former WBC super-middleweight world champion Robin Reid in 1999.
“Robin Reid could really bang, and in my opinion, he deserved the win over Joe Calzaghe in their fight.”
Calzaghe claimed a split-decision victory over Reid in what was a third successful defence of the WBO strap and one of just two disputable results in his career, the other being another split-decision win against Hopkins nine years later.
