How Joe Calzaghe Achieved a Net Worth of $21 Million
Joe Calzaghe is a former professional boxer from Wales who competed in two weight classes. His successful career in this sport and from his other ventures means that he has accrued a net worth of $21 million. So, how did Joe Calzaghe get so rich? Calzaghe was born in Hammersmith, London, on March 23, 1972. His mother, Jackie, is Welsh, while his father, Enzo, is Sardinian. At the age of just two, he moved with his family close to Caerphilly in South Wales. He began boxing at the age of nine. As an amateur boxer, he competed in over 120 contests. Between 1990 and 193, he won four schoolboys ABA titles and three consecutive senior British ABA titles. His amateur record was reportedly 112-10. Calzaghe was signed up in 1993 and he made his professional debut just one month later at Cardiff Arms Park. His opponent was Paul Hanlon, who had won his previous 23 fights. Calzaghe won the match after bringing Hanlon down after just one round. In his first two years as a professional boxer, Calzaghe won all 13 of his fights. These included wins over Frank Minton, Robert Curry, and Bobbie Joe Edwards.
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Stephen Wilson entered the ring with Calzaghe for a match in October 1995. Although Wilson was previously unbeaten boxer, Calzaghe took him down in the eighth round, winning the British super-middleweight title. Shortly after, the Professional Boxing Association and the Boxing Writers’ Club voted him the Young Boxer of the Year. In the early years of his career, Calzaghe was under the management of Mickey Duff and Terry Lawless. Although he continued to defeat opponents, he was unhappy with his management as the had never fought in a world championship bout. For this reason, he made the switch to Frank Warren’s Sports Network in 1996. This was a good move because the following year, he defeated Chris Eubank to win the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight championship. Calzaghe beat both Robin Reid and Rick Thornberry in 1999 and then started 2000 with a points-decision win against David Starie. This was closely followed by wins against both Omar Sheika and Richie Woodhall.
2001 was another successful year, as Calzaghe won matches against Mario Veit, an unbeaten German boxer, and Will McIntyre. His success continued into 2002, in winning bouts against Charles Brewer and Tocker Pudwill. The latter match allowed Calzaghe to successfully defend his WBO super-middleweight title for the 12th time. A quieter year followed for Calzaghe as he only had one fight in 2003. This was against American former world champion Byron Mitchell. The fight took place in Cardiff, and Calzaghe won by knockout in the second round. The next few years were significant in making Calzaghe one of the most successful and well-known British boxers of all time. Some of his most important bouts in the ring included the fights with Jeff Lacy in the mid-2000s and his 2007 match against Mikkel Kessler.
History
Following this fight, Calzaghe switched to a different weight class, which made him one of only a handful of boxers to have fought professionally in both the super-middleweight class and also the light-heavyweight class. His first fight in the light-heavyweight class was against Bernard Hopkins in a match in Las Vegas in 2008, which was won by Calzaghe. He went on to step into the ring with Roy Jones Jr. in 2008 and was once again successful. Joe Calzaghe announced his retirement from boxing in February 2009. Throughout his career. He had 46 total fight and 46 wins. He won multiple world titles during his career and was also the longest-reigning super-middleweight world champion as he defended his title successfully on 21 occasions over a period of 10 years.
His time competing in the two classes overlapped, and this meant that by the time he retired from boxing, he had the longest continuous time as a world champion out of any active boxer at that time. Furthermore, he was the first super-middleweight boxer to unify three out of the four major world titles. Calzaghe was ranked as one of the world’s top ten boxers by The Ring for three consecutive years between 2006 and 2007. His highest ranking was the third position in 2009. When he retired, he was one of the few professional boxers in the world to retire with a completely undefeated record.
According to The Richest, Joe Calzaghe now has an estimated personal net worth of $21 million. This is predominantly through his career as a boxer and he earned the money for participating in and winning matches. However, his career in the ring is not the only way that Joe Calzaghe has earned money. When he retired from the ring, Joe Calzaghe founded his own boxing promotion company called Calzaghe Promotions. He did this in collaboration with his father, Enzo Calzaghe. This company focuses on promoting boxing events by gaining media and public interest.
Final Thoughts
The former boxer has also had a lesser career as a television personality. In 2009, he was one of the contestants on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, and he was partnered with professional dancer Kristina Rhianoff. This was Kristina Rhianoff’s second season of the series as she had appeared the previous year when she was partnered with John Sergeant. Calzaghe and Rhianoff were eliminated in the fifth week. He has also made a cameo appearance as himself in ‘Stella’, a British comedy series. In his personal life, Joe Calzaghe was married to Many Davies for eleven years between 1994 and 2005. The couple had two sons together, Joe and Connor. He then had a five year-relationship with Jo-Emma Larvin, but they split when Calzaghe had an affair with Kristina Rhianoff, his professional dancing partner in Strictly Come Dancing. Calzaghe and Rhianoff were in a relationship from 2009 until 2013, but they then announced their amicable separation.
