Calzaghe-Mitchell: Fired up Calzaghe scorches Mitchell, and sets super middleweight division alight.

Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime

By James McDonnell

29.06 - In a fight which sizzled with intensity, Joe Calzaghe had to come off the floor to stop Byron Mitchell, in only the second round of their contest in Cardiff.

After repeatedly hurting Mitchell in the first round, Calzaghe was having his way with Byron Mitchell, when he walked straight into a massive right hook, which landed with such force that Calzaghe pirouetted on the spot before his legs folded under him.

It appeared to be a very heavy shot, but like Jason of Halloween fame, Calzaghe was up in a flash, spinning on his knee, before jumping to his feet. Amazingly, his head seemed to have cleared almost instantaneously, and upon rising, far from trying to protect himself for the remainder of the round, he simply tore into Mitchell as soon as he rose.

Within Moments, Calzaghe returned the favour, dropping Mitchell with a massive right hook. The knockdown seemed only to have spurred Calzaghe into life, and he ripped savage wild looking hooks into Mitchell as he rose.

It must have come as a big surprise to Mitchell, who would have expected Calzaghe to have been fighting off the back foot, and he perhaps took it for granted that he would have the better of the exchanges following the knockdown.

The next 45 seconds resembled the kind of fight footage associated with the golden era of men like Zale, LaMotta and Graziano, as Calzaghe threw out the training manual, and simply went hell for leather. Calzaghe was wide open for a counter, but the pressure he applied to Mitchell was simply too much for the American fighter, as huge left and right hooks thundered through his guard repeatedly.

Mitchell refused to go down, despite taking 10 unanswered shots to the head, as a sickening barrage of punches rained down on him. Calzaghe turned to referee Dave Parris as if to urge him to stop the fight, but for the time being Parris thought Mitchell was still able to continue.

Calzaghe ripped hooks into the side of Mitchell's head, literally battering his gloves aside, and it was a matter of time before something had to give. Mitchell showed tremendous resilience, his legs holding him up through an onslaught that would have crushed most fighters. Finally, with about 30 seconds to go, Mitchell showed he was human, a three-punch combination wobbled him, and he lurched backward to the ropes.

Referee Pariss had seen enough, and he waved the contest over with less than 30 seconds remaining in the 2nd.

There were some who claimed it was a premature stoppage, but after watching the ending several times, it was obvious to me that Mitchell was in terrible trouble. His eyes were rolling glassily in his head moments before his legs went, and with Calzaghe firing off such salvos of hard shots, he could have been badly hurt, and although some people like to see a fight end with one fighter flat on his back, I was quite happy that the referee drew and end to proceedings at that point.

Even Mitchell was not particularly upset by decision, as he admitted later that although he felt he could have continued longer, that the referee had his best interests at heart. It is hard to envisage him lasting the remaining 30 seconds of the round with Calzaghe pounding on him so furiously.

For me, it confirmed what I have long suspected, that Calzaghe is the finest super middleweight in the world, and it sets the stage for a much-needed unification bout with Sven Ottke.

Calzaghe turned in the most exciting performance of his career, and although he appeared wild at times, some of this can be attributed to his 6-month layoff from the ring. Calzaghe showed amazing powers of recovery to rally from such a heavy knockdown and dominate his opponent, but he would need to be more defensively astute against the phantom-like Ottke.

It was a great night for Calzaghe, and Jay Larkin, the executive behind the shobox series was effusive in his praise for Calzaghe's performance, which was provided the kind of barnburner beloved by American fight audiences.

Such a strong and exciting showing will hopefully gain Calzaghe the big fight he has been looking for so long, and as well as Ottke, who may be difficult to tempt into the ring, the name of Bernard Hopkins has resonated follwing this performance.

Calzaghe would need to be far sharper against the Veteran middlweight champion, but he definitively showed that his punch power is no myth, in stopping the iron-chinned and seasoned Mitchell. The next year seems sure to produce at least 1 mega-fight for Calzaghe, if the right terms can be found to make such a contest.

In other action, the undercard produced similar excitement in the anticipated bout between widely touted prospect Enzo Macarinelli, and seasoned former world title challenger Bruce Scott.

This was always going to be a real test for the 22 year old Welshman Macarinelli, who took a huge step up in class against Scott, who has fought against the likes of Johnny Nelson, and Cuban Juan Carlos Gomez.

Scott had been out of the ring for 2 years before this contest, but you would never have known watching him in the first round.

It looked as if Macarinelli had been cruelly exposed as being out of his depth, as Scott unleashed a looping overhand right, which deposited Macarinelli on the canvas.

This was always going to be a contest between talented youth, and gnarled experience, and it looked for all the world as if youth had been found wanting, as Macarinelli rose on spaghetti legs, lurching around the ring as the referee looked at him closely.

Macarinelli somehow managed to steady himself enough for the contest to continue, and the fight resumed. Astoundingly, Macarinelli came back into the round, and managed to clear his head enough to land several stiff jabs, as he cautiously worked his way back into contention. Macarinelli was
however leaving his chin 'hanging out to dry' as the old adage goes, and near the close of the round another big overhand right caught him again.

It was a 10-8 round for Scott, and an emphatic point had been made. Could Macarinelli recover from this setback?

In the second round, Macarinelli, following instruction from his corner, boxed far more cautiously, tightening up his defence, and deploying better movement around the ring, as he pumped out his excellent jab. Scott was patient as he stalked his man, occasionally firing off his own jab, but Macarinelli was now taking the shots on his gloves, and countering excellently.

The jab of Macarinelli began landing frequently, and was punctuated by a searing left hook. It looked like Macarinelli had ridden the storm, and more importantly, found his range.

In the third, the same pattern was followed, but now Macarinelli was growing in confidence, and began letting his hands go. After blocking a series of punches from Scott, he unfurled a big right hook, staggering Scott. It was to be the turning point of the fight, as Macarinelli established clearly that he had the power and handspeed to hurt the durable veteran.

Macarinelli began to throw his shots with more authority, spurred by his success, and wobbled Scott several times in the round, but after pressing the fight, and seeing that Scott was not ready to go, even after taking a sizzling hook to the body, followed by a crushing uppercut, Macarinelli opted to box again, and ended the round lancing Scott with his jab.

It had now been established that Macarinelli carried the bigger firepower, and in the fourth he came out with intent, and began teeing off on Scott, who simply could not evade the fast hands of his opponent.

Scott went to the body, in an attempt to take the sting out of the big Welshman, landing clubbing hooks, but Macarinelli was not to be distracted. A big 1-2 landed early in the round wobbling Scott, and then a whipping left hook staggered his opponent.

Scott, wily old pro that he is, continued to work the body, landing several hard shots, as Macarinelli forced the action. The end was nigh however, and Macarinelli was just seconds away from producing a stunning conclusion.

A jab started a three punch combination of dazzling speed, followed by a straight right, which just missed the mark, as Scott weaved away from the right, he veered straight into the path of the short left hook which Macarinelli ended the combo with. Scott's head was whipped through 90 degrees, as the force of the shot spun him, and he went down like a sack of potatoes, his head bouncing off the canvas, before ending atop the bottom rope.

It was a cracking shot, and Scott was down for a long time, drawing concern from the commentary team, but thankfully Scott made it to his feet after being tended by the doctor, and sat in his corner as Macarinelli celebrated.

It was an amazing performance from Macarinelli, who not only took a massive step up in class on the night, but showed incredible maturity to recover from a very heavy known down, and totally turn the fight.

Whilst Macarinelli did look vulnerably early on, some of that can I think be attributed to stage fright. Scott caught him cold in the 1st, but once Macarinelli found his range, he was definitely the boss. Macarinelli proved that he is one of the division's best hitters too, stopping a man renowned for his toughness with his dazzling combination work.

Macarinelli looks like a fighter who can go places. And whilst his chin may be suspect, on the evidence of this fight, his power and speed could be enough to take out some of the leading lights of the division.

However, Macarinelli is still a young pro, at 22 years of age he still has a lot to learn, and the fight with Scott is just the kind of experience that will stand him in good stead. His style will have won him fans on the other side of the Atlantic, and in a division which has recently come alive with Toney's win, Macarinelli could provide just the sort of excitement the division needs.