Joseph William Calzaghe was born on 23 March 1972, in Hammersmith, London, England, of Italian and Welsh descent. Joe is a retired professional boxer, known for his career from 1993 to 2008, during which he was a two weight world champion, and held the unified WBA (Super), WBO, Ring Magazine, IBF, WBC, and lineal super-middleweight title along with the Ring light-heavyweight title. All of his efforts have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Joe Calzaghe? As of early-2017, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $21 million, mostly earned through his career in professional boxing. He retired with the record for longest continual time as world champion of any active fighter, and with an undefeated record of 46 straight wins. All of these achievements ensured the position of his wealth.
Joe Calzaghe Net Worth $21 million
Joe started boxing at a young age, already fighting in the amateurs at the age of nine. He participated in over 120 contests and would go on to win four schoolboy ABA titles. He also won three consecutive senior British ABA titles and held a 112-10 record. His last defeat would be against amateur Adrian Opreda in the 1990 European Junior Championships in Prague.
Calzaghe made his professional debut in 1993, defeating Paul Hanlon in one round. Withing two years he was already at a 13-win streak, including victories over Frank Minton and Bobbie Joe Edwards. He would then win the British super-middleweight title against Stephen Wilson before being voted as Young Boxer of the Year by the Professional Boxing Association. He would continue gaining wins, even against the undefeated Mark Delaney who had a record of 21-0 at the time. Joe earned criticisms, though he silenced a lot of them after defeating Pat Lawler and Warren Stowe. He then moved to Frank Warren’s stable and would continue his win streak there.
He fought Chris Eubank in 1997 for the vacant WBO super-middleweight title, winning and then successfully defending it against Branko Sobot. He continued with wins against Juan Carlos Gimenez Ferreyra and Robin Reid, and in 2001, he defeated the 30-0 contender Mario Velt in the first round before winning against Will McIntyre. In 2002, he would make his 12th successful defense against Tocker Pudwill, and the following year defeat former world champion Byron Mitchell and other contenders such as Evans Ashira. In 2006 he fought Jeff Lacy in a unification bout for the IBF super-middleweight championship, winning easily and by unanimous decision. His next big fight would be against undefeated WBA world champion Mikkel Kessler in a match worth $5 million, increasing his net worth significantly, defeatingd Kessler via unanimous decision, surpassing 20 successful defenses. He then parted with Warren and started promoting his own matches.
In 2008, Joe defeated Bernard Hopkins to win The Ring Light Heavyweight Championship, and then fought Roy Jones Jr., winning via unanimous decision. In 2009, he announced his retirement from professional boxing joining the list of 11 other world champions who retired undefeated.
For his personal life, Joe was married to Mandy Davies from 1994 to 2005, and they have two sons. It is known that he was previously in a relationship with Jo-Emma Larvin. He is the first person to be awarded the Freedom of Caerphilly in his home county. He was also given the award of Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) and was elevated to a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) during the 2008 Queens Birthday Honours.
