Welsh-Italian boxer Joe Calzaghe gets his own – inevitably admiring – documentary profile, recording his humble origins, meteoric rise and career-climaxing bouts against Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones. One of the tiny handful of fighters to emerge with a loss-free ring record, Calzaghe is perhaps less famous than he ought to be (though his Strictly Come Dancing shenanigans, not mentioned here, may have helped in that regard), and this film goes some way to outlining what lay behind his success as a fighter: primarily fast hands, an iron chin and a vicious punch.
As is the case with many a sports profile, the central figure comes across as opaque and not especially fascinating; the colour is provided by peripheral figures, and here it’s Calzaghe’s father Enzo, onetime musician turned boxing trainer, who took on responsibility for his son’s career. Calzaghe senior makes for entertaining viewing, with his gung-ho attitude and impressive swearing, in a solid, occasionally stirring, treatment of its subject.
