Calzaghe surrenders IBF title to fight Manfredo

WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe has given up his IBF title to fight Peter Manfredo in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on Saturday 3 March.

The Welshman, aged 34, has chosen to meet US TV boxing reality show star Manfredo, aged 26, rather than IBF mandatory challenger Robert Stieglitz.

“It’s disappointing to give up the IBF but Stieglitz doesn’t mean anything outside of Germany,” said Calzaghe.

An impressive win on American TV could lead to a summer “mega-fight” with middleweight king Jermain Taylor in the USA.

“We’ve been in discussions with Taylor and that’s a fight we would like, but first Joe has to come through this one,” said promoter Frank Warren.

“American broadcasters HBO had no appetite for the Stieglitz fight, that’s how the belts get fragmented.”

German-based Russian Stieglitz, aged 25, has an unbeaten record of 29-0 (19 KOs), but there are no major names on his record.

Manfredo finished as runner-up on US TV series ‘The Contender’ and holds a record of 26-3 (12 KOs), but has not met anyone in Calzaghe’s class.

“Calzaghe has defended his title 19 times, but he’s got to lose at some point and he’s going to lose this time,” said Manfredo.

He now holds career-high world rankings of number seven by the World Boxing Organisation and eight by the World Boxing Council.

The Rhode Islander describes himself as a boxer who “likes to bang and mix it up” and believes his hunger for a world title will prove decisive.