Why four more victories should see Joe Calzaghe up with the best of the best

In Joe Calzaghe's first fight on American soil, he faced Bernard Hopkins - "The Executioner" - for a fight that many thought would determine Calzaghe’s role in the boxing pantheon against arguably the best light heavyweight in the world.

In Las Vegas, Hopkins had the early dominance in the fight, dropping Joe in the first round and taking the cleaner attack of the Welshman’s inside defence. Hopkins has always been a right-hand dominant puncher and, while he had early success, Calzaghe began to read the fight and began to counter as it wore on.

Official statistics claim that Calzaghe laid more contacts on Hopkins than any other fighter he had faced. Two judges scored the fight to Calzaghe, while the other scored the fight marginally to Hopkins 114-113. 

The victory claimed Calzaghe the Ring Magazine light heavyweight title, to go with the WBO, WBC and WBA titles. Simply put, the southpaw is possibly the greatest super-middleweight boxer to have ever graced the ring, comparable with Sugar Ray Leonard. He has also held the IBF and the world super-middleweight titles.