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Joe Calzaghe annihilated America's coming force with one of the finest displays by a British fighter in years to unify the world super-middleweight titles in Manchester.
Calzaghe claimed a completely one-sided points victory over his big rival Jeff Lacy - who had come to the fight with his own unbeaten record and a major reputation.
The Welshman hammered Lacy from the first moment to the last, not losing a round on any of the three judges' scorecards as he claimed 119-107 (twice) and 119-105 verdicts to add Lacy's IBF title to the WBO belt he already owned.
Lacy was floored in the final round and could have been stopped on his feet on a number of other occasions as Calzaghe simply steamrollered his opponent with an awesome display.
Calzaghe had waited nine long years for his chance to prove himself the very best since claiming the WBO title from Chris Eubank in October 1997.
Over 17 subsequent defences of his title Calzaghe established himself as one of the most dominant fighters in his sport without quite winning over a global audience.
Now the world will bow to Calzaghe as one of the stars of his sport today and one of the greatest super-middleweight champions of any era.
The emergence of the much-hyped Lacy had given Calzaghe the perfect opportunity to stake his claim to greatness by dethroning a man labelled across the Atlantic as the next big thing.
There were many who feared the chance had come too late for 33-year-old Calzaghe, who suffered knockdowns in recent fights against Byron Mitchell and Kabary Salem.
There was also the worry over Calzaghe's fragile hands, with a broken left hand in his September clash with Evans Ashira scuppering the initially projected November 5 date for this bout.
But others believed Calzaghe's fast hand-speed and vast experience would show up Lacy as something of a one-dimensional ****er who would be put in his place.
Two unbeaten records and so many imponderables were the main reason why over 16,000 supporters crammed into the MEN Arena in the early hours for the big fight.
Calzaghe responded by blazing out from the opening bell and gave the thicker-set Lacy early notice of the power he possessed with a superb right counter-punch.
Calzaghe's sharp southpaw style was bemusing Lacy, who began bleeding from the nose and was providing no obvious answer to his opponent.
In fact, Calzaghe seemed to be positively enjoying himself as he finished the second round with a flourish with his back to the ropes and leered at Lacy at the bell.
Lacy's problems intensified when his left eye began dripping blood at the start of the fourth but he served notice the fight was far from over by landing a crisp right hand.
At the end of the fourth, however, the doctor had a long hard look at Lacy in the corner with both his eyes now injured and his face a grisly mask of blood.
Such bad circumstances forced Lacy into more attacking mode in a vain bid to turn the tide but Calzaghe continued to hold off his rival with dazzling counter-punching skills.
Lacy - nicknamed 'Left Hook' - landed one of his trademark shots early in a better start to the seventh but that just brought another machine-gun response from Calzaghe.
And Lacy looked out on his feet towards the end of the round when a crashing left from the Welshman set up a furious assault which had the American clinging on for survival.
It was to Lacy's immense credit that he stayed on his feet and responded in the eighth with his best round of the contest to date.
And Calzaghe's desire to end the contest early almost played into Lacy's hands in the ninth when he caught the Welshman with a big left - only for Calzaghe to shrug it off again.
Calzaghe was docked a point by referee Caiz in round 11 for flicking out a punch behind his back but it hardly seemed likely to matter at this stage of the contest.
Even into the last round, Calzaghe continued to blaze forward and a smashing right hand dumped Lacy to the canvas legally for the first time.
The furious assault continued with Lacy clinging on desperately and Caiz watching closely. Lacy survived - but the wait for the scorecards was unnecessary.
Calzaghe claimed a completely one-sided points victory over his big rival Jeff Lacy - who had come to the fight with his own unbeaten record and a major reputation.
The Welshman hammered Lacy from the first moment to the last, not losing a round on any of the three judges' scorecards as he claimed 119-107 (twice) and 119-105 verdicts to add Lacy's IBF title to the WBO belt he already owned.
Lacy was floored in the final round and could have been stopped on his feet on a number of other occasions as Calzaghe simply steamrollered his opponent with an awesome display.
Calzaghe had waited nine long years for his chance to prove himself the very best since claiming the WBO title from Chris Eubank in October 1997.
Over 17 subsequent defences of his title Calzaghe established himself as one of the most dominant fighters in his sport without quite winning over a global audience.
Now the world will bow to Calzaghe as one of the stars of his sport today and one of the greatest super-middleweight champions of any era.
The emergence of the much-hyped Lacy had given Calzaghe the perfect opportunity to stake his claim to greatness by dethroning a man labelled across the Atlantic as the next big thing.
There were many who feared the chance had come too late for 33-year-old Calzaghe, who suffered knockdowns in recent fights against Byron Mitchell and Kabary Salem.
There was also the worry over Calzaghe's fragile hands, with a broken left hand in his September clash with Evans Ashira scuppering the initially projected November 5 date for this bout.
But others believed Calzaghe's fast hand-speed and vast experience would show up Lacy as something of a one-dimensional ****er who would be put in his place.
Two unbeaten records and so many imponderables were the main reason why over 16,000 supporters crammed into the MEN Arena in the early hours for the big fight.
Calzaghe responded by blazing out from the opening bell and gave the thicker-set Lacy early notice of the power he possessed with a superb right counter-punch.
Calzaghe's sharp southpaw style was bemusing Lacy, who began bleeding from the nose and was providing no obvious answer to his opponent.
In fact, Calzaghe seemed to be positively enjoying himself as he finished the second round with a flourish with his back to the ropes and leered at Lacy at the bell.
Lacy's problems intensified when his left eye began dripping blood at the start of the fourth but he served notice the fight was far from over by landing a crisp right hand.
At the end of the fourth, however, the doctor had a long hard look at Lacy in the corner with both his eyes now injured and his face a grisly mask of blood.
Such bad circumstances forced Lacy into more attacking mode in a vain bid to turn the tide but Calzaghe continued to hold off his rival with dazzling counter-punching skills.
Lacy - nicknamed 'Left Hook' - landed one of his trademark shots early in a better start to the seventh but that just brought another machine-gun response from Calzaghe.
And Lacy looked out on his feet towards the end of the round when a crashing left from the Welshman set up a furious assault which had the American clinging on for survival.
It was to Lacy's immense credit that he stayed on his feet and responded in the eighth with his best round of the contest to date.
And Calzaghe's desire to end the contest early almost played into Lacy's hands in the ninth when he caught the Welshman with a big left - only for Calzaghe to shrug it off again.
Calzaghe was docked a point by referee Caiz in round 11 for flicking out a punch behind his back but it hardly seemed likely to matter at this stage of the contest.
Even into the last round, Calzaghe continued to blaze forward and a smashing right hand dumped Lacy to the canvas legally for the first time.
The furious assault continued with Lacy clinging on desperately and Caiz watching closely. Lacy survived - but the wait for the scorecards was unnecessary.
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