I remember some one giving a link but can't remeber who unlees my :thumbsup memory is failing me. BUt DID JOE Calzaghe and Chris Byrd really fight in tha amatures and did JC just beat him or KO BYRD please anyone with info Please INform:thumbsup
"Calzaghe started boxing aged nine, with the southpaw having 120+ fights and won four schoolboy ABA titles, followed by three consecutive senior British ABA titles (British Championships) from 1991 to 1993. This made him only the second boxer in history to win at welter, light middleweight and middleweight divisions. He also beat future WBO and IBF heavyweight world champion Chris Byrd as a middleweight in 1992." -Encarta
very impressive please post a link so i can read more from that article or did you get that from an actual hard copy encyclopedia?
He stopped Byrd just before the end of the fight. It was to be Chris Byrd's last fight as an amateur. The bout was in Italy I think.
****ing disgrace he never got to go to the Olympics. He would have brought home the gold. I think Robin Reid went instead and got a bronze.
The only disgrace is that Joe (and Enzo) chose not to box for the Welsh ABA championship which was the qualifying event for Olympic selection. This resulted in him not being selected for the team. Joe and Enzo knew the rules and knew what they had to do to get Joe to Barcelona and they chose a different path. It's nobody's fault but people with the surname Calzaghe.
Brian123 -- thanks for clearing that up. It was me who mentioned Joe beating Chris in another thread yesterday. PrideOfWales: Why did they do that? I don't understand that move at all.
Joe and Enzo were of the opinion that the Welsh ABA was beneath them and chose other routes. They thought that the Welsh ABA would put him forward anyway for the British team on talent alone but alas, it didn't happen. The Welsh ABA put forward the boy who won their title - he subsequently lost a box off to go the Olympics. Or something like that anyway.
Its not quite as simple as that. Some silly ABA rule prevented Enzo from being in Joe's corner. Enzo is important to Joe's performances.
You're right, there was something about Enzo. I can't remember the story 100% clear but it's something that should have been easy to resolve.