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Calzaghe proud of Kessler win

04/11/2007

Joe Calzaghe said he was proud to have beaten Mikkel Kessler and become the undisputed world super middleweight champion.

The Welshman now holds the WBC, WBA and WBO titles and is undefeated in 44 fights as a professional.

Calzaghe admitted the Dane had given him a tough fight but felt that his superior technique had allowed him to prevail over his younger opponent.

He told Setanta Sports: "I'm fantastically proud. It was awesome. It's so sweet, I was struggling at the end, I was a bit tired, but I felt I controlled the fight and was proud of my performance.

"I realised after a few rounds the jab was too fast for him. When I put my boxing together he couldn't get past the jab."

The 35-year-old felt that he had boxed well but claimed that he had made mistakes and that he intended to work on those areas in the future.

"I think it was a good performance by myself, I felt pretty sharp but made a few mistakes," said the champion.

Kessler admitted he had been surprised by Calzaghe's hand speed, although the Welsh fighter is renowned for his speed the Dane said he was still caught off guard.

He said: "I was surprised, I knew he was fast, I knew he trained a lot for me. He had to be sharp to beat me. He spoiled my boxing, he's really good at it. Big respect to Joe."

Calzaghe is now likely to seek a fight with former multi-weight world champion Bernard Hopkins, who came out of retirement to beat Ronald 'winky' Wright at light heavyweight in July this year.