By Don Caputo

Super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (39-0) kept his mega-fight ambitions alive on May the 5th with a repeat victory over former first round KO victim, Mario Veit (45-2). The long reigning Welsh champion showed his mettle by traveling into hostile territory for only the second time in his career. Calzaghe put his title on the line against the much-improved number-one challenger and hometown favorite in Veit. Defending his WBO super-middleweight crown for the 16th time in front of a crowd of 8,000 strong inside the Volkswagenhalle in Braunschweig, Calzaghe reaffirmed his superiority over the lanky German with another convincing stoppage. This time, the stoppage came in the in the sixth round, but with the win, the door has now been opened for a potential unification clash with IBF title-holder, Jeff ‘Left Hook’ Lacy, in the winter.

The Lacy clash is a fight that Joe needs desperately. Calzaghe's stagnating career has had the reek of wasted talent for more than a few years now and a big fight, and more importantly a big win, is the only way to restore his waning credibility as a legitimate champion.

The frustratingly long line of substandard opponents challenging for Calzaghe’s belt have not only had a regressive effect on his standing in the sport, but the quality of his performances seemed to have been suffering as well. Calzaghe's recent showing against Veit showed that he could still perform on an impressive level if his head is in the fight. His scrappy defense against Kabary Salem in particular left a sour taste in the mouths of people like me who know how good Calzaghe can be when he has his head screwed on properly. For twelve ugly and uneventful rounds, we witnessed a highly skilled champion with a wealth of experience fight down to his considerably less talented opponent’s level. Calzaghe was sucked into a cesspit of mediocrity and it became an uphill struggle against a guy who, if truth be told, should not have even been in the same ring as him outside of a sparring partner capacity. No exaggeration, the gap in class between the two should have been that wide. You know the saying, ‘you are what you eat,’ well, for a boxer, it can often be ‘you are who you fight.’ Watching Calzaghe lunge in with poorly timed and amateurish attacks against the raw and limited Salem sprung a notion in my head that suddenly came true. Calzaghe had become what he was competing against, a C level fighter.

Thankfully, he was able to raise his game in Germany to finally rid himself of Veit. I have a feeling that Mario and his team will not be clamoring for a third meeting anytime soon. It was a performance that Calzaghe should be very pleased with, although the result in itself won’t do anything to raise his profile across the Atlantic or anywhere else for that matter. Against Veit, Calzaghe has shown that he is willing to fight outside of his comfort zone and take on challenges. I questioned that about him, I believed that he lacked ambition and had perhaps even lost some of his desire for the sport. In recent interviews though, the fighter has been quick to squash any and all such suggestions before they even reached his ears. He has told us how, since Christmas, he has lived in the gym. He has described to us the anger that he felt at the last-minute cancellation of his voluntary defense against Irishman Brian Magee a few months ago. And in regards to his future, he has continued to express a convincing desire to make 2005 the year in which he finally participates in meaningful fights.

I bet I know what you are thinking, we have heard it all before yet nothing ever materializes. What’s different this time? To that, all I can say is that we have to forget about the past and put our trust in what we are being told in the present. Calzaghe's clash against undefeated Jeff Lacy looks to be a done deal if the American takes care of Robin Reid in his next defense. Having learnt a thing or two from past let downs, it would probably be wise at this stage not to raise our hopes too high, as nothing has been inked yet. On the positive side though, circulating reports suggest that both teams are strongly committed to making the fight a reality which if nothing else, is encouraging news.

In the past seven months or so, the undefeated Lacy has made an amazingly swift transition from touted prospect to established world champion. We have seen his status skyrocket in the wake of a string of impressive victories over top rated contenders. The St.Petersberg, Florida native has emerged as the new force in the division and with fewer than twenty fights, has been consistently wowing crowds with his free-swinging style and fearsome repertoire of crunching hooks and debilitating uppercuts. If a match between him and Calzaghe does come to fruition as expected, it will mark by far and away the biggest and most significant super-middleweight collision since Roy Jones Jr. challenged James Toney in 1994. But wait a minute, am I overlooking a certain somebody?

Robin Reid (38-4-1), despite being a substantial underdog (and rightly so), is not going to be lying down when he meets Lacy in June. Reid is fully aware that this upcoming title-fight could well represent his last bite at the big time. With that in mind, I believe that a small amount of foolishness must be present to totally dismiss the possibility of an upset. Not only does the British challenger have former world championship credentials, he possesses two innate qualities which serve to make him a threat to anyone that he squares off against. Reid takes into the ring with him a chin forged of iron and explosive power in his right boxing glove. Age has admittedly robbed him of some of his speed and mobility, but against Lacy I don’t expect that he will be doing a great deal of chasing. The two are going to lock horns in the center of the ring and go at it tooth and nail until the final bell or one of them relents to the will of the other. Let me say this, five years ago I would have fancied Reid by late round stoppage, but after watching videos of his last couple of fights it is glaringly obvious that he has lost a step or even two. Try as I might, I just cannot picture him out-punching the younger champion and keeping up with the furious pace that he is bound to set. Reid still has a puncher's chance but the most likely scenario is that he fades in the second half of the contest and is either stopped on his feet or drops a wide decision.

The younger version of Reid that I was referring to was good enough to almost to give Joe Calzaghe his first loss when they crossed paths in 1999. Reid walked away from the grueling Calzaghe encounter with a split decision loss but there are those who, to this day, still persistently claim that the wrong man got the nod. Just say that he is able to turn back the clock and dethrone Lacy, a rematch with Calzaghe would be huge in Britain. I am not sure quite how much it would contribute to the enhancement of Joe’s legacy, but it is a fight that many of us would pay good money to see again. That is one possibility, however, as you know my money is not on Reid to beat Lacy. If he does lose as I expect, a domestic dust-up between him and Carl Froch should be his next move. Young tiger against old lion, it is a match-up full of intrigue as the two gladiators are currently sitting at opposite spectrums in their respective careers. Froch is coming up, and Reid, who is obviously slightly past his peak, would provide the ultimate acid test for us to see just how good the cocky British champ really is. It would be a great fight to watch, I really hope that we don’t have to wait too long for it to happen.

Until it has been made official, I have made the decision to refrain from getting into any analysis of the proposed Calzaghe-Lacy fight. I want lessen the potential disappointment if negotiations fall through down the road (I wouldn’t be surprised). Lets just wait and see what happens, and if the fight is still on in a couple of months, then maybe we can start getting excited.