Calzaghe to finally legitimise super-middle division by Terry Dooley Oct 31st 2007

After more than 20 years of stagnation, the super-middleweight division will finally be legitimised this Saturday. Joe Calzaghe faces Mikkel Kessler in Wales and the unification battle is being televised on Setanta Sports (as is the majority of another top class undercard. HBO, televising in the USA, surely will take this opportunity to show Matt Skelton-Julius Long).  That the division has not yet had a universally-recognised champion (if you discount Sven Ottke - and many do) is due to a number of reasons.  The mischievous among us may point to the fact that the division has long been dominated by British and European fighters and equate this with its lack of overarching ambition. Our notoriously insular boxing worlds have made it hard to turn local dominance into genuine international superiority. On the one side, we have had the British titleholders – Eubank, Benn, Reid and Calzaghe – and on the other side, we have had mostly European title holders – Ottke, Beyer, Rocchigiani and assorted others – with neither side willing to give ground and meet halfway to unify - until now. It could also be argued that the division has never truly caught fire with the US TV networks and, therefore, no promoter has come along with unification plans or tournament ideas.  So the division has failed to rise above being anything other than a place for fighters to make money from a single trinket or a place for mostly US fighters to stop by and grab another meaningless strap.  Indeed, despite their longevity, both Calzaghe and Ottke are considered by many to be behind Roy Jones, a super-middleweight for seven fights, in the all-time 168lbs stakes. There has never been a lineage in this division and there has rarely been a unification battle. Therefore, in terms of pedigree and history, it has been the ginger stepson of boxing. We have had the division for a while now, but has it ever truly meant anything? Years down the line, who will we point too when we say The Super-middleweight? So far, there has been no-one. All this will change, though, on Saturday, when Calzaghe and Kessler lock horns (barring a draw). As well as being a unification fight, this battle will, for the first time, give the super-middleweight division a clearly defined line in the sand; a point of departure for future champions.  In short, it will move from being a Euro-British fiefdom into being a global division proper. This fight also pits two distinct fighting styles and attitudes. On the one side, we have WBA/WBC titleholder Mikkel (pronounced ‘Miggel') Kessler, who has set about the division with relish in his short reign.  On the other side, we have WBO counterpart (and short-lived IBF incumbent) Joe Calzaghe, who has benefited greatly, despite his natural talent, from the drift that has characterised this division and distinguished the Welshman's career. After a near-decade without unification, Calzaghe became the closest the division has to a full champion by defeating 20-fight near-novice Jeff Lacy in a one-sided bout. In retrospect, Lacy's style - as most US styles are - was made for Joe. Some of us had been blinded to this fact due to sheer frustration at the unfulfilling reign of Joe until that point. Since that wonderful night, Calzaghe has belied his diminishing timespan by taking on not one but two reality TV fighters in ‘Contender' fighters Peter Manfredo Jr and Sakio Bika (who was not part of the show prior to his world title shot).  There then followed a tortuous negotiating period for this fight, a bout that has seen more false dawns than a movie screen. For every truly important Calzaghe fight over the past ten years, there has been more than a few bouts which suggested he may have lacked the desire needed to take the division, the world, and his career by the horns. This is no time for looking back, though. Saturday's fight will signal the beginning of a new era for a division currently teeming with young talent. Or will it? If Calzaghe wins, he claims he will step up in weight, step up to the plate and step on a plane to fight any number of US stars - preferably the faded ones such as Bernard Hopkins or Roy Jones. The irony could be sweet. No complete unification of the division for over 20 years, and then suddenly we get a champion who could immediatly vacate the title and plunge us back into confusion. It could be seen as a fitting end to Joe's time at super-middleweight. Actions speak louder than words. Often we were told he would beat anyone, only for him to fight no-one.  It would not surprise me if a win for Joe will be greeted with a wave of British sporting euphoria (to be honest, as a nation, we would wildly celebrate a tiddlywinks world title win) before the announcement is made that Joe deserves a rest and will fight an undemanding opponent in a celebration-style fight.  The last time Calzaghe indulged in such an affair, Manfredo was the fattened calf.  Calzaghe, the prodigal son who, it can be argued, given his ten-year record, has few prodigious results on his ledger, needs to roll-up his sleeves after Kessler. Ten years until you take control of your kingdom? That does not deserve a party. For the above reasons, it would be a better result for the division if Mikkel Kessler won this upcoming fight, despite his limited comparative ability. The Dane is the man to take the division forwards.  Since becoming a title holder in 2004, when Kessler defeated a weak WBA king in Manny Siaca, Mikkel has sought out the best names he could find.  Anthony Mundine might have lost a few, but he was a dangerous fighter, and Kessler travelled abroad to defeat him in the very first defence of his title. Kessler then marked time by out-jabbing Eric Lucas and unified the WBC and WBA in quick time when blasting aside Markus Beyer – who for a while was on Calzaghe's extensive ‘I would beat this guy easily, so why bother' list.  Last time out, Kessler took on an overrated slugger with limited skills in Librado Andrade, dominating him in the process before tortuous negotiations began between Team Kessler and Team Calzaghe. In taking the fight, travelling to the UK and moving with such haste, Kessler suggests he would be a fine first unified champion for this division. One suspects he would also facilitate fights with young and hungry contenders rather than feasting on small and/or faded ex-champs. With the reality of the fight upon us, the question of who will win is a difficult one. When the fight was announced, my first impression was that Joe will rain punches on Kessler, befuddling him and claiming a clear points win.  However, in recent press appearances, Calzaghe has looked an aged fighter. Plus he has wasted the nea-two years since the Lacy win by boxing opponents who did not offer a great challenge.  Also to be taken into account is the fact that Joe, never a booming KO puncher, is further hindered by a weak left hand, a handicap that will have become worse, not better, over time, especially as he had to spend 12 pointless rounds cracking it against the skull of Bika. Stylistically, Kessler also has the tools to beat Joe. However what he does lack is the esoteric skill and punch variety of Joe.  After watching the majority of the Dane's career, it is clear that, with his booming jab and correct right hand, he could negate Calzaghe's speed and off-set Joe's flurries, while catching the Welshman as he comes in. However ,despite - or due to - his technical correctness, Kessler does seem to lack that little extra verve and flair needed at the higher level. Early in his career, it was all one-two, one-two, one-two until the other guy was ready to go, then Mikkel would bring in the odd left hook. At best, in his formative days, Kessler would drop the one-two with a left hook or a right uppercut off this combination, but only after a slight pause for thought, a processing period as he applied his learned knowledge.  If this combination of blows did not have the desired effect, he would sometimes mirror the prior combination: right uppercut, left hook, right hand and a final left. This suggests that he is a pre-programmed fighter lacking in the instinctive ability to weave punching patterns off the top of his head. Fast forward and this still seems to be the case. Kessler loves working behind his one-two and often will not throw the left hook off it; this flaw will leave him wide open, as he straightens up, for Calzaghe's left hand. When Kessler does throw a good left hook, it is often as a lead. He then puts his right behind it and looks well balanced. If Kessler can mix it up, he stands a good chance. We all know what we are going to get with Calzaghe. We have seen him blow hot and cold for a decade and it is hard to predict, at this stage, how his body is holding up as the years roll on. If Kessler can pump out his jab, it will make it hard for Joe to get set for flurries. If Kessler can then drop the right hand, Calzaghe could be caught often. For most, this seems unlikely. They say Kessler is another unimaginative European fighter in the vein of Mario Veit. But Veit did catch Joe with rights in their pointless second fight, so the possibility could be that Calzaghe, with all his imagination and flair, is open to the style of Kessler.  We all expected American fighters, with their looser styles, to give Joe problems, but that was not the case - they gave him space to work. It could be that the correct, some might say conservative, European style is the perfect counter to Joe's unorthodox boxing. If that is the case, Kessler is in with a great chance in this bout. No matter what the result, the ingredients are there for both men to be tagged often. There is also a chance that Kessler could drop Joe with a counter right. Equally possible is the scenario of Joe turning on the afterburners and overwhelming the relatively inexperienced Dane. I think the reality will walk between these two lines. Kessler will give Joe trouble and Joe will give Kessler fits before Calzaghe wins a tight, possibly contentious, decision. A rematch may be in order, but with Calzaghe claiming to have only having two fights left, and, if this one is close, being unlikely to take on Kessler again, it could be a fight in which a king is crowned amidst scenes of controversy.

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