Boxing: Calzaghe gives reality check to fake Contender

They closed the roof here last night but it fell in on Joe Calzaghe's American opponent, Peter Manfredo, after just three rounds. The man from Rhode Island quickly discovered that reality television has little to do with the reality of the ring when a champion of Calzaghe's class comes at you from the opposite corner.

The 35-year-old Calzaghe completed his 20th defence of his World Boxing Organisation super-middleweight title, extending his unbeaten record to 43 fights in fourteen years with a display which left the out-of-depth Manfredo looking more pretender than contender. Manfredo, who was runner up in the US TV boxing series found the gulf between contender and champion too big to bridge when in truth he was little more than a willing tyro, boosted by his mentor, Ray Leonard, sugaring the publicity pill.

Calzaghe was able to dictate the pace and pick his punches, roared on by the biggest crowd ever assembled for an indoor promotion - the official attendance was 35,018. They may have come for a contest but had to be content with a Celtic celebration of Calzaghe's career.

Sporting new trimmings of a moustache and goatee beard, Calzaghe was bigger in every department than the man who called himself "the Italian warrior", comfortably winning the first two rounds against an opponent who had no defence to speak of. It was easy to see why Manfredo has a flattened nose as it was such an easy target for Calzaghe's southpaw jab.

The end came after one minute thirty seconds of the third round when, pinned to the ropes, Manfredo was on the receiving end of 30 to 40 unanswered punches, albeit most of them landing on his arms and shoulders. Nonetheless, the referee, Terry O'Connor, decided to call a halt to this ruthless one-way traffic when the ending may have been a tad premature but the result would have been inevitable and infinitely more painful for Manfredo had he continued. As Calzaghe went to all four corners of the ring to blow kisses to the crowd, the American was consoled by his father, Peter. Harsh reality indeed.

Amir Khan is a young man in a hurry - as fast in the ring as apparently he is on the roads these days - and he made quick work of his 12th professional opponent the 29-year-old Steffy Bull with another blistering display, winning one minute 35 seconds into the third round. The Bolton lightweight stalked and chased the Yorkshireman from the start.

It really was a matador against a Bull and the bout concluded when the Doncaster man sank down from a merciless barrage in a neutral corner to be stopped as he rose unsteadily at nine. Bull who came out of retirement had intended to be at the ringside as a fan but he found himself fighting boxing's best-known Apprentice - but one who gets fired up rather than fired.

Bull's experience kept him out of harm's way for most of the first round, during which Amir was rebuked for a borderline blow but from then on he was hurt repeatedly in Amir's most efficient performance to date. "I picked the rights shots and took my time," said Amir. "He was a seasoned pro and I'm still learning so I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out." Amir was given his first significant exposure on US television. "They saw me in the Olympics but I'm a different fighter now, faster and stronger," he said. He also hopes to fight for the world title by the end of the year.

Calzaghe's stablemate Enzo Maccarinelli made short work of the portly Canadian Bobby "Machine" Gunn, with a blistering first-round victory in the second defence of his World Boxing Association cruiserweight title. Gunn suffered some obviously painful punishment, including a splattered nose and a combination of blows which sent him down for an eight count. The ending followed swiftly after another assault and the American referee stepped in to halt the one-sided contest after two minutes 35 seconds.

The Welshman's display clearly impressed Gunn's trainer Joe Grier. He said: "Maccarinelli is a monster. If he keeps punching like that he'll beat any cruiserweights in the world."