Joe Calzaghe vs Branko Sobot

The first defence of a championship reign that would continue for more than ten years was completed in less than eight minutes. Joe Calzaghe returned to Wales as WBO super-middleweight champion on 24 January 1998, having won the vacant title from Chris Eubank three months earlier. His opponent at the Cardiff International Arena was Branko Sobot, a Croatian southpaw based in Germany who entered with a 14-1 record. Sobot was a late replacement for Tarick Salmaci, who withdrew following a disagreement with his management.

Calzaghe weighed 167¾ pounds, with Sobot at 166½. The challenger’s record was respectable, although short of world-championship quality. He had held the IBF Inter-Continental middleweight title and his only defeat had come on points against Hacine Cherifi in a contest for the European championship. Moving up to super-middleweight, however, he faced a younger champion with advantages in speed, power and work-rate.

Sobot attempted to box cautiously from his southpaw stance during the opening two rounds, but Calzaghe was quicker into range and controlled the exchanges. The champion pressed without the recklessness he had shown after dropping Eubank early, using his faster hands to keep Sobot occupied and preventing the challenger from settling. Judges Manuel Maritxalar, Roy Francis and Samuel Viruet each had Calzaghe ahead 20-18 after two rounds.

The finish came in the third. Calzaghe increased the pressure and sent Sobot to the canvas under a sustained attack. The Croatian regained his feet and beat the count, but he had not recovered sufficiently to defend himself against the next assault. Calzaghe closed in immediately, landing punches from several angles as Sobot attempted to cover and retreat. Referee Paul Thomas intervened at 1 minute 35 seconds, awarding Calzaghe victory by technical knockout.

The result advanced Calzaghe’s record to 24-0 and gave him an uncomplicated first defence before his home support. Sobot was neither disgraced nor permitted enough time to make the contest competitive. His principal difficulty was the difference in speed. Once Calzaghe raised the tempo, the challenger could not organise his defence or answer quickly enough to halt the champion’s advance.

I remember watching this fight on Tv. Branko Sobot was no threat to the young, fearless Joe Calzaghe, regardless of the respectable 14-1 record. He was a late replacement, had done most of his work at middleweight, and had already lost at the European level to Hacine Cherifi. This was essentially a homecoming defence designed to establish Calzaghe as champion in Wales after the much harder night against Chris Eubank.

Sobot was a southpaw, but that brought him no advantage against another left-hander who was considerably quicker. Calzaghe beat him to the punch, forced him backwards and never allowed him to establish the distance needed to box effectively. The champion was also more controlled than he had been after dropping Eubank, where excitement caused him to waste energy hunting an early finish.

Once Calzaghe raised the pace in the third round, the difference in class became obvious. Sobot went down, beat the count and was then overwhelmed until Paul Thomas stopped it at 1:35. The stoppage was correct. Sobot was upright but unable to organise himself under the volume coming back. It was not a meaningful test of Calzaghe’s championship credentials, but he did exactly what a good champion should do with an overmatched replacement: took command early, found the weakness and finished the job without unnecessary drama.