Joe Calzaghe: 30 years on the all-time great looks back to his first British championship defence
Joe Calzaghe is one of boxing's all-time greats but before he scaled the heights of the sport, he was defending the Lonsdale belt at the Brentwood Centre; 30 years on Calzaghe looks back at his knockout victory over Mark Delaney: "The first time I'd been in that kind of environment"
Monday 20 April 2026 13:40, UK
Joe Calzaghe, to many, is the greatest boxer these isles have produced. Retired unbeaten, a super-middleweight champion for over a decade and a man who stepped up in weight to beat two legends in the United States cap things off.
Thirty years ago today, a genuine test on that journey took place at a leisure centre in Essex.
Calzaghe spoke exclusively with Sky Sports about his first experience of being in the away corner as a professional: "It was the first defence of my British title. I was 16-0 at the time. Mickey Duff was my promoter and he lost the purse bid to Barry Hearn and Matchroom, so we had to go into the backyard of Mark Delaney who was unbeaten at the time."
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Up to that point the then 24-year-old Calzaghe had comfortably had everything his own way. Fourteen of his 16 opponents had failed to see the fifth round, while his British title win had been a stoppage victory over Stephen Wilson of Scotland at the Royal Albert Hall.
This fight was different in terms of atmosphere, but Calzaghe's mind remained resolute.
"The Brentwood Centre was hostile. It was the first time I had been in that kind of environment. There was booing, spitting, although not directly at me, name calling, until you are in that kind of atmosphere you don't know how you will react," Calzaghe said.
"But I just embraced it and fed off it. It was supposedly some sort of acid test, I started as a slight favourite, but I was completely confident I was going to knock him out. There was always a little bit of nerves in every fight I had, but I knew how to cope with them."
The confidence was certainly not misplaced as Calzaghe built on his burgeoning reputation on ITV's 'The Big Fight', with Reg Gutteridge and Jim Watt on commentary.
"I started fast back in those days. I punched hard with my left hand before I started to have trouble with it. I dropped him in the first round, then three or four times after that. I completely controlled the fight before it was stopped in the fifth round. For what was supposed to be a test I came through it emphatically," he said.
It was a statement performance against a man that was 21-0 at the time, but there was one man in Team Calzaghe that was left disappointed.
"My promoter at the time was Mickey Duff. He wasn't happy because he'd put money on me to win in the first four rounds. He moaned at me for not finishing the job earlier, so I found myself apologising despite it being my biggest win to date!" he revealed.
That night, Calzaghe had three huge characters in his corner, Duff, Terry Lawless and of course the central figure of his career, his father and trainer Enzo.
When asked whether that caused conflicts, there was no mistaking who was boss.
"I remember before my first fight, Terry Lawless went to go in the corner as my main coach. My dad wasn't happy with that, to say the least," Calzaghe said.
"He pretty quickly made it clear he was the main trainer in the way that he did. From then on, they understood who was in charge. I knew who I was listening to and that was my dad. There may have been the odd word from Mickey and Terry but nothing much."
Following victory, Calzaghe was now just one successful defence away from earning the Lonsdale Belt outright. That was not to be, but not because of defeat. Instead it was poor road maintenance in the Welsh valleys that put paid to that dream.
"I was supposed to defend it against a guy called Paul Wright. No disrespect to Paul, but I don't think it would have been a problem. But a week before the fight I went for a run and rolled my ankle in a pothole. I could barely walk and had to hop the last mile back to my dad's," he recalled.
"Mickey Duff did call to say that if I could stand up, I should fight and that I only needed one leg, but that would have just been ridiculous."
Shortly after this period, Calzaghe split with Duff, teaming up with Frank Warren, which ultimately led to him relinquishing his British title.
"Once I went with Frank, things moved in a different direction. It would have been brilliant to get that beautiful belt. It's the nicest looking," he said.
"But at the end of the day, my goal was always to be a world champion, so that was just the step I had to take at that moment."
By October 1997, that dream was realised, beating Chris Eubank to become WBO super-middleweight champion. The rest, as they say, is history.
Asked whether he has any regrets about not staying in the domestic scene a little longer so that the Lonsdale belt could have pride of place above his mantelpiece, he still thinks it could yet be possible.
"It would have been nice, you know. Maybe someone could get me one from somewhere anyway? I was still the British champion after all," Calzaghe says, tongue in cheek.
"But I can't say I have any regrets. Things happen. God works in mysterious ways. It just wasn't meant to be. I stood in that pothole for some reason that day, that's the way I look at it.
"Look at how things happened afterwards. I went on to have a pretty decent career."
Quite the understatement for a boxer who, from that long-forgotten night at an Essex leisure centre 30 years ago, went on to headline in Las Vegas and at Madison Square Garden, cementing his status as one of Britain's all-time greats.
