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JOE CALZAGHE has been hailed as one of the sweetest fighters in the world by ring legend Sugar Ray Leonard.
The WBO super- middleweight champ, 35, retained his title in front of his biggest live audience when he stopped Peter Manfredo in three rounds.
And Leonard, who held titles at five different weights from welterweight up, witnessed Calzaghe’s dominance from ringside at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Sugar Ray fought in a golden era that boasted greats like Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran.
And Leonard insisted: “Joe would have handled all those guys. He has the talent, heart, hand-speed and ability to become the undisputed champion right now.
“Joe would have held his own against all the fighters from my era and what is so impressive is he can fight if he needs to.
“He is smart, has heavy hands and is a southpaw. Those are all the attributes you need to become a great champion.
“The only problem he might have is his hands seem fragile.
“But Calzaghe is smart enough to compensate for that. I like him, I’m a big fan of his and the sport needs guys like him.”
The Welshman’s next opponent could be Jermain Taylor, 28, as promoter Frank Warren will today offer the American £1.6million to move up from middleweight to fight Calzaghe in London.
Warren wants to stage the bout at the O2 Arena, formerly known as the Millennium Dome, in July.
His bid to lure Taylor here dashes the hopes of Nottingham’s Carl Froch landing a crack at Calzaghe before he retires.
Warren said: “The offer for Taylor will be put in officially in writing on Monday.
“I also tried to get Mikkel Kessler to fight Joe but was told by his promoter he would not be ready to fight by July — how many weeks does he need?” Froch’s handler Mick Hennessey had petitioned the WBO hoping to stage a final eliminator between his man and No 1-ranked challenger Dennis Inkin of Russia for Calzaghe’s mandatory defence that must be staged by September.
But WBO president Paco Valcarcel said: “If a match is made for Calzaghe against Kessler, we would regard that as a mandatory defence because it would be a unification fight as he holds the WBC and WBA titles.
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“Our rules also say a fight against Taylor would also be a mandatory as Taylor is one of our super champions.”
Froch said: “All I want to do is fight but the politics of boxing can stop genuine fights from happening.”
Calzaghe recorded his 20th successful defence — taking him to a 43-0 record — when referee Terry O’Connor controversially stopped Saturday’s fight early.
O’Connor stepped in midway through the third round after Manfredo took a barrage of shots but appeared far from hurt.
It stole Calzaghe’s thunder on a night when he was celebrating 10 years as super-middleweight champion in front of 35,000 fans and a massive TV audience in Britain and the United States.
Manfredo, who shot to fame in the boxing reality TV show The Contender, was furious with O’Connor.
The American moaned: “I didn’t even get a warning from the referee about not punching. He just waved his arms and walked me away.
“It was crazy as this is professional boxing and was a fight for the world title. “Did I wobble? Did anyone see me hurt? Was I about to go down? No, no, no. The ref should be fined or something.”
Calzaghe said: “I would have liked the fight to have gone on a bit longer but I’m the fighter not the referee.
“I’m sure Peter, who is a true fighter, would rather have got knocked out than be stopped like that. I have a lot of respect for him.”
The WBO super- middleweight champ, 35, retained his title in front of his biggest live audience when he stopped Peter Manfredo in three rounds.
And Leonard, who held titles at five different weights from welterweight up, witnessed Calzaghe’s dominance from ringside at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Sugar Ray fought in a golden era that boasted greats like Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran.
And Leonard insisted: “Joe would have handled all those guys. He has the talent, heart, hand-speed and ability to become the undisputed champion right now.
“Joe would have held his own against all the fighters from my era and what is so impressive is he can fight if he needs to.
“He is smart, has heavy hands and is a southpaw. Those are all the attributes you need to become a great champion.
“The only problem he might have is his hands seem fragile.
“But Calzaghe is smart enough to compensate for that. I like him, I’m a big fan of his and the sport needs guys like him.”
The Welshman’s next opponent could be Jermain Taylor, 28, as promoter Frank Warren will today offer the American £1.6million to move up from middleweight to fight Calzaghe in London.
Warren wants to stage the bout at the O2 Arena, formerly known as the Millennium Dome, in July.
His bid to lure Taylor here dashes the hopes of Nottingham’s Carl Froch landing a crack at Calzaghe before he retires.
Warren said: “The offer for Taylor will be put in officially in writing on Monday.
“I also tried to get Mikkel Kessler to fight Joe but was told by his promoter he would not be ready to fight by July — how many weeks does he need?” Froch’s handler Mick Hennessey had petitioned the WBO hoping to stage a final eliminator between his man and No 1-ranked challenger Dennis Inkin of Russia for Calzaghe’s mandatory defence that must be staged by September.
But WBO president Paco Valcarcel said: “If a match is made for Calzaghe against Kessler, we would regard that as a mandatory defence because it would be a unification fight as he holds the WBC and WBA titles.
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“Our rules also say a fight against Taylor would also be a mandatory as Taylor is one of our super champions.”
Froch said: “All I want to do is fight but the politics of boxing can stop genuine fights from happening.”
Calzaghe recorded his 20th successful defence — taking him to a 43-0 record — when referee Terry O’Connor controversially stopped Saturday’s fight early.
O’Connor stepped in midway through the third round after Manfredo took a barrage of shots but appeared far from hurt.
It stole Calzaghe’s thunder on a night when he was celebrating 10 years as super-middleweight champion in front of 35,000 fans and a massive TV audience in Britain and the United States.
Manfredo, who shot to fame in the boxing reality TV show The Contender, was furious with O’Connor.
The American moaned: “I didn’t even get a warning from the referee about not punching. He just waved his arms and walked me away.
“It was crazy as this is professional boxing and was a fight for the world title. “Did I wobble? Did anyone see me hurt? Was I about to go down? No, no, no. The ref should be fined or something.”
Calzaghe said: “I would have liked the fight to have gone on a bit longer but I’m the fighter not the referee.
“I’m sure Peter, who is a true fighter, would rather have got knocked out than be stopped like that. I have a lot of respect for him.”
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