Okay, now that the fight is against the relative nobody of Sakio Bika, I thought it might be interesting to look back over Joe's career and see who he could have fought along the way to silence any doubters.

Glen Johnson: This fight has been on the cards since 2004, when it was arranged, and Calzaghe had to pull out with injury. Everyone gets injured, and when you have glass hands like Calzaghe, you have to go into a fight in peak condition or not at all, and for this one, it seems, not at all.

Roy Jones Jr - The fight that Calzaghe and British boxing fans have wanted since about 2000 when Calzaghe was calling out Jones at the end of every fight, and almost every fight in between too. It would have been one of the ultimate super-fights at super-middle, and would have cemented his legendary status, without a doubt. Fighting a RJJ who comes in 1-3 after a win over Prince Badi Ajamu, however, is not quite such a legend-maker.

Bernard Hopkins - Great middleweight, but getting on a bit since Calzaghe really came into his prime, and perhaps a late 90s fight against him might have been a little too early?

Sven Ottke - retiring in 2004 ruled out a unification with Joe, though in terms of pulling power, could have been up there with the Lacy unification.

Any I've missed?