BOXING: Calzaghe: I'm better champion than Ricky.Byline: By MARK STANIFORTH JOE CALZAGHE Joe Calzaghe (born 23 March, 1972 in Hammersmith, London England) is a Welsh boxer of Italian and Welsh descent, who is nicknamed "The Pride of Wales". He currently lives in Cwmbran, Wales, and is one of the pound for pound top 10 boxers in the world according to the Ring Magazine. has come out fighting ahead of his 17th WBO WBO World Boxing Organization WBO Western Buddhist Order WBO Wehrbeschwerdeordnung WBO World Bamboo Organization (formerly International Bamboo Association) WBO Won by One (Malibu, California; a cappella group) super-middleweight title defence in Cardiff on Saturday night, insisting he makes a better world champion than Ricky Hatton Richard Hatton MBE (born October 6 1978, in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England), is a British boxer. He is seen by many as one of the greatest British fighters of all-time and is currently one of the top 10 pound for pound fighters in the world. will ever be. Wales' world champion has grown increasingly frustrated with the level of publicity he has been afforded during his eight years as champion in contrast with some of his British boxing contemporaries. And as he prepares to receive overdue terrestrial television exposure with live ITV (1) See interactive TV. (2) (iTV) The code name for Apple's video media hub (see Apple TV). coverage of his fight against Kenyan Evans Ashira, Calzaghe directed his ire towards Hatton's win over Kostya Tszyu in June. Branding the media attention afforded that contest as "a joke", Calzaghe added: "As far as I am concerned I am a far better fighter than Ricky Hatton. "Ricky had a good win over Kostya Tszyu but he fought a guy who was at the tail-end of his career who had fought once in three years. "Let's not go over the top - I've defended my title for eight years, let's see if Ricky is still champion in four years let alone eight." Hatton is about to become embroiled in a legal battle with promoter Frank Warren over who holds the options to his future fights, with a prospective November 25 fight with Carlos Maussa looking increasingly unlikely. Calzaghe has been with Warren since 1997 and appeared to express surprise at Hatton's decision to go it alone, insisting the promoter represents the best option for his world title future. Calzaghe said: "Look at what Frank has done for the careers of Ricky and Naseem Hamed - you need a good promoter behind you like Frank and you can't do everything on your own. "I can't comment on Ricky's situation but with regards to my own situation Frank is the best promoter in the world." At the age of 33, Calzaghe is finally closing in on the career-defining fights he craves, with a unification clash with reigning IBF IBF See: International Banking Facility champion Jeff Lacy in the pipeline for early November. And the lure of fighting in front of a huge television audience has given him added incentive ahead of a title defence which he ought to overcome with the minimum of fuss. The Newbridge southpaw added: "I am going to be performing in front of people who have never watched me box before - I have got a lot to live up to and I want to put up a positive performance CAPTION(S): Champ Joe Calzaghe |
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