Boxing: Brewer drags Calzaghe to a new level

Wales' dream boy has to travel the long road to victory after durable American survives explosive opening

The meat may have been served up in big portions at Wembley but the main course as far as boxing's connoisseurs were concerned was definitely on the Cardiff menu last night. Here Joe Calzaghe, the pride of Wales, furthered his quest for recognition on both sides of the Atlantic with the 10th successful defence of his World Boxing Organisation (WBO) super-middleweight title against probably the hardest man he has ever had to face in his 33-bout career, Charles Brewer of Philadelphia. Calzaghe had to settle for a unanimous points verdict – a comfortable victory on the scorecard, though not quite so comfortable in the ring in a classic clash that was for gourmets rather than gourmands.

It was actually a fight of two halves, with Calzaghe steaming away in a frenetic opening spell before the vastly experienced Brewer hauled his way back into a contest that contained all the ingredients you might expect from contestants of this calibre: pride, passion and a good old-fashioned punch-up. The 30-year-old Calzaghe, early on, showed the sort of style that would appeal to the US TV audience he is out to woo, taking and landing some good shots, demonstrating that his chin is as sound as his ring craft.

Brewer wobbled, but he didn't wilt, picking up the pace again from the sixth round onwards and making Calzaghe wince with a hurtful left in the seventh. The last round – only the fourth time Calzaghe had been taken the full distance since he acquired the title from Chris Eubank in October 1997 – ended as fiercely as the first had begun. It would be unfair to say that this Brewer was only here for the beer, even less the beer money. He came to fight and Calzaghe did not have to go looking for him. Coming in originally at one and three quarter pounds over the 12-stone limit was at best unprofessional and at worst dangerously negligent, but the 32-year-old American shrugged it off and showed no lack of stamina as he slugged it out toe-to-toe in one of the best contests seen in this division for some time.

Calzaghe was made to work for a victory which the three ringside judges thought convincing enough with scores of 117-112, 118-111 and 119-109. But whether Calzaghe did enough to convince the Americans of his capability of taking on the likes of Roy Jones, is another matter.

"Ooh, that was hard. I have great respect for Brewer but I'm a true warrior," said Calzaghe. "I had to really dig deep to win but I proved I have a champion's heart."

So what now for the Welsh southpaw? He has already established himself as one of Britain's foremost fighting men, perhaps now second only to Lennox Lewis in international stature, but he needs to make a much bigger name for himself as well as the bigger money which is available in the US. Forgetting Jones, a tasty morsel would be an encounter with the undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins, if the American could be persuaded to move up to meet him. A stateside date would bring a large purse but Calzaghe is very much a home bird who revelled in the 5,000-strong support at the International Arena here and promoter Frank Warren reckons they could get a 40,000 crowd this summer at the Millennium Stadium.

Another Welsh favourite, 25-year-old Gary Lockett, suffered a considerable set-back to his advancing career when he lost his unbeaten record, and his recently acquired WBO Intercontinental junior-middleweight title, to a battling bruiser from Belarus, Yuri Tsarenko. More significantly Lockett suffered severe facial damage, finishing with both his eyes grotesquely swollen and closed. By the end of the 12th round he was literally spitting blood and he seemed lucky to have survived the full distance to lose on a split decision.

Lockett had won all of his previous 16 contests and is counted as a champion of the future but last night he ran into a battle-hardened opponent who really knew the ropes, never allowing the Welshman to come even close to a knock-out punch.

Audley Harrison recorded his fourth victory as a professional when he stopped his 7ft 2in American opponent Julius Long at the Wembley Conference Centre last night. The British heavyweight, still unbeaten in the paid ranks, landed a left flush on the chin, dropping his man and the referee moved in to stop the contest. There were no complaints from the loser.