Joe Calzaghe's 5 Most Career Defining Victories

4. Jeff Lacy (04/03/2006)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VSjzPJ-p-U Calzaghe went into the fight with American Jeff Lacy as an underdog, despite having been a world champion for over 8 years at this point and the bout taking place on home soil at the Manchester Arena in March 2006. Lacy came into the fight as the undefeated IBF world champion and was seen as one of America's next top stars of the game. Recognised as the two best fighters in the super middleweight division, they were not only fighting for the WBO and IBF titles, but the coveted vacant RING magazine super middleweight championship - which would mark the first RING champion in the category since the division's inception in the late 1980s. The bout did not live up to expectations, however, in the sense that Calzaghe dominated Lacy for every round of the 12 round contest. Lacy was buzzed several times, before being knocked down for the first time in his career in the final stanza. Calzaghe was deducted a point for an illegal shot in the 11th round, which was the only blight on scores of 119-105, 119-107 and 119-107 from the judges. The win was quite a statement from Calzaghe, legitimatising himself as, not only the best fighter at 168lbs, but one of the best fighters pound for pound on the planet.