Joe Calzaghe is considered as one of the best British boxers if all time but his career could have gone in a different direction had he not beaten Jeff Lacy in Manchester 20 years ago
10:47, 06 Mar 2026Updated 16:23, 06 Mar 2026
Calzaghe’s win against Lacy was a defining moment(Image: Getty Images)
Every world champion has a rite-of-passage, a fight that changes everything. Not so much how they feel about themselves, but how others see them.
Mine was Juan Laporte in February 1985. Four months later I beat Eusebio Pedroza to lift the coveted WBA featherweight crown, drawing an audience of 19 million on TV.
Joe Calzaghe has been celebrating his defining moment this week, the 20th anniversary of his super-middleweight unification bout against the formidable Jeff Lacy, an unbeaten American giving off Sonny Liston vibes.
I was working in the commentary box that night. I watched him train for a couple days in Wales, interviewed his father and trainer, Enzo. It was clear there was real tension around this fight.
Critics tried to discredit Calzaghe over his punching style. They said he slapped rather than punched. For all that, you wouldn’t want to be slapped by his left hand.
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Calzaghe dominated from the off, totally schooled him. Manchester’s MEN Arena was the British boxing Mecca in those days, a 20,000-arena packed to the gunnels.
Calzaghe had already beaten British rival Robin Reid, the teak-tough Omar Sheika, the hard-hitting David Starie and Richie Woodhall to establish himself as the standout on this side of the Atlantic.
It all looked so easy for him. He sprayed you with combinations, not a concussive puncher but spiteful. Everything worked off the southpaw jab. He was afraid of no-one, including Lacy, who was sent to the canvas in the 12th as if to rubber stamp the conquest.
After Lacy, Calzaghe beat the great Dane Mikkel Kessler then topped his career with closing victories over veterans Bernhard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jnr.
Joe Calzaghe dominated Jeff Lacy in Manchester(Image: Getty Images)
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The Americans finally gave him his due, as they did me in victory over Laporte. I always believed I had the potential to be world champion, but convincing American audiences was a different matter.
I didn’t care that much personally, but some did and it was nice to ram home the point. Laporte had just lost his world title to Wilfredo Gomez. He was still in his pomp, however, and had a good ten years after I beat him.
He caught me with an amazing shot in the ninth, bang on the button. I heard the audience gasp. That shot knocked out most of his opponents but I took it, earning his respect and that of the doubters in the States.
Calzaghe didn’t need any to tell him how good he was. He retired unbeaten, an all-time British great, arguably the best super-middle this country has produced.
Follow Barry on X at @ClonesCyclone @mcguigan’s_Gym
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