Joe Calzaghe V Will McIntyre. McIntyre had padded his record with wins against easy opponents. The times he upped his opposition he lost. I rate McIntyre at this stage of his career as a suitable opponent for Calzaghe 3/10.

Joe Louis V Arturo Godoy 2. Godoy had taken Louis to a split decision in his previous bout. I rate Godov at this stage of his career as a suitable opponent for Louis 8/10.

Joe Calzaghe V Charles Brewer. Brewer was a good boxer who would occasionally be let down by his chin. 5 of his loses prior to boxing Calzaghe had been by Split Decision including 2 of them to Sven Ottke. He’s really difficult to rate as only two fights before Calzaghe he was stopped in 3 rounds having knocked his opponent down 3 times. But I still consider him a capable opponent and will rate him 6/10.

Joe Louis V Al McCoy. McCoy had lost 11 of his last 21 bouts. He was a very unworthy challenger and I rate him 2/10

Joe Calzaghe V Miguel Angel Jiminez. Jiminez’s record had more padding than a cheap sofa. And I can only rate him 3/10

Joe Louis V Red Burman. Burman had suffered three previous stoppage loses including a 2 round 6 knock down stoppage loss as a Light Heavyweight to John Henry Lewis. Burman was an average pro and I can only award him 3/10.

Joe Calzaghe V Tocker Pudwill. Pudwill was a two weeks notice replacement for Thomas Tate. Pudwill was on a winning run of 5 having lost a decision to Sven Ottke for the IBF title. I rate him at this stage of his career as a suitable opponent 5/10.

Joe Louis V Gus Dorazi. Dorazio once again like a lot of Louis’s title challengers was an average opponent and can only be awarded 3/10.

Joe Calzaghe V Byron Mitchell. In his previous bout Mitchell had lost a Split decision to Sven Ottke a boxer who avoided Calzaghe like the plague. His only other career loss had been to Bruno Girard. Coming into the fight I would rate Mitchell as a suitable opponent for Calzaghe as 8/10.

Joe Louis V Abe Simon. Simon came into this bout of a 10 round points loss to the extremely average Jim Thompson. I can only give him 3/10.

Joe Calzaghe V Mger Mkrtchyan. Mkrtchyan had suffered one previous loss a two round stoppage. He like many boxers had a padded record. 2/10.

Joe Louis V Tony Musto. Were did they keep finding these bums to box Louis? 1/10

Joe Calzaghe V Kabary Salem. Salem had only ever lost on points and to fairly decent opposition. At this stage of his career I would rate him 5/10.

Joe Louis V Buddy Baer. Baer was an average boxer whose record was built against average opposition. 3/10.

Joe Calzaghe V Mario Veit. Veit had previously lost in a round to Calzaghe and was unbeaten since and had scored wins over Kabary Salem and Charles Brewer since. That said I still only rate him 3/10.

Joe Louis V Billy Conn. Conn was the reigning Light Heavyweight champ. He was a good champion but had originally begun his career as a Lightweight. He was certainly no heavyweight. At this stage of his career I rate him 5/10.

Joe Calzaghe V Evans Ashira. Ashira had been knocked out in 2 rounds at Middleweight a couple of fights before challenging Calzaghe. I rate Ashira at this stage of his career as a suitable opponent for Calzaghe 2/10. (Calzaghe broke his hand in this fight and fought one handed throughout the bout)

Joe Louis V Lou Nova. Nova built his record against average boxers; he had even lost to Tony Galento. I can only rate him 3/10.

Joe Calzaghe V Jeff Lacy. Lacy was unbeaten and had recently become the first boxer to stop former WBC champ Robin Reid. Coming into the Calzaghe fight I rate him 10/10.

Joe Louis V Buddy Baer. After the disqualification loss in their first bout Baer got a rematch. It wasn’t a deserved rematch, so once again he gets 3/10.

Joe Calzaghe V Sakio Bika. Bika had suffered one loss in his career to Sam Soliuman as a middleweight. His two draws had been technical decisions. He was a strong rugged boxer who would give any champion a tough time. Coming into the Calzaghe bout I rate him 6/10.

Joe Louis V Abe Simon. Simon had previously lost in 13 rounds to Louis, but in his previous bout before his second title challenge had been stopped in five rounds. Why this got him another shot is beyond me 2/10.

Joe Calzaghe V Peter Manfredo JR. 0/10 enough said.

Joe Louis V Johnny Davis. This was a disgraceful match. Davis was had 6 bouts winning 3 and being stopped 3 times. 0/10

Joe Calzaghe V Mikkell Kessler. Kessler was 39 – 0 coming into the bout. He was the reigning WBA & WBC champion and most peoples favourite to win. I have to rate Kessler 10/10. This was Calzaghes last defence before vacating the title. I would like to point out to Calzaghes critics that in the fight after Kessler he beat Bernard Hopkins. Most Boxing magazines rate Kessler and Hopkins as the BEST Super Middleweight and Light Heavyweights in the world. And I’m sure they will both end up in the boxing hall of fame.

Joe Louis V Billy Conn. Conn had won 3 bouts all on points since his loss to Louis. As he had put up an impressive performance in his first loss to Louis I rate him 7/10.

Joe Louis V Tami Mauriello. Mauriello had twice lost points decisions for the Light Heavyweight title. Coming into the Louis bout he was on a KO streak of 11 and had beaten the then 25 – 0 Bruce woodcock in his previous bout. At this stage of his career I rate him 7/10.

Joe Louis V Jersey Joe Walcott. Walcott had lost two of his previous 5 bouts before challenging Louis and had previously been stopped on 3 occasions. I rate him 3/10.

Joe Louis V Jersey Joe Walcott. In his previous bout Walcott had lost a split decision to Louis. This I would put down to Louis being past his peak and not down to Walcott being a good challenger. I rate him 5/10.

After the second Walcott bout Louis announced his retirement. He came back to challenge Ezzard Charles but was a long way past his peak by then. I rate Charles 7/10.

Over the course of 22 world title bouts Calzaghes opponents had an average score of 5 out of 10. Giving him a score of 110.