An Evening with Joe Calzaghe & Guests – a night not to be missed on any sports fan’s calendar!

Joe will be appearing at the Best Western Moat House in Stoke-on-Trent for a glitzy dinner show to talk about his remarkable career.

Joe Calzaghe CBE, MBE was born in Hammersmith, London, England on 23rd March 1972 to Sardinian father Enzo and Welsh mother Jackie.

Prior to his retirement in February 2009 as Britain’s only undefeated boxing world champion, Calzaghe was the longest-reigning boxing world champion of the modern era. He has a fight record of 46-0, 32 of which by TKO.

The former Ring Magazine World Light-Heavyweight Champion, as well as former WBO, WBA, WBC, IBF, The Ring Magazine and the British super middleweight champion, Calzaghe held the WBO super-middleweight title for over ten years until he relinquished the title to concentrate on fighting at light-heavyweight.

Calzaghe holds notable wins over Chris Eubank, Jeff Lacy, Mikkel Kessler, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. and was trained by his father Enzo at the Newbridge boxing club in South Wales.

In 2003 Calzaghe was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, and was further rewarded with a CBE in 2008. In 2007 Calzaghe also became BBC Sports Personality of the Year, making him the first Welsh winner of this award since show jumper David Broome in 1960.

Tickets for the show are available on 01782 777724.

The prize ring is home to an unspoken fraternity – a secret brotherhood forged in the flames of battle that those of us who have never laced on the gloves can hope to understand. At the very pinnacle of professional boxing, athletes live and fight in a bubble whose irridescent surface is all but impenetrable to outsiders. Under the harsh glare of the studio spotlight and in the bitter diatribe of media hyperbole, rivalries are amplified beyond the nth degree. Ambition and pride become distorted into something much darker and it is not until the sound of the final bell that a sense of balance is restored.

This sense of balance was never more evident than in the intimate setting of the Springfields Exhibition Centre on the 27th of November 2010.

In attendance were Nigel Benn and his old rival Steve Collins, marshaled by former world cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson, whose expert questioning coaxed so much gold from the special guests.

Amidst the laughs and recollections there was so much mutual respect between the two legends that it was like a meeting of old friends, which of course they both are.

What was particularly heart warming were the kind words that Nigel Benn had for his old enemy Chris Eubank – demonstrating that boxing truly is a sport of gentleman. There was also a huge amount of admiration for the achievements of Joe Calzaghe and his place in boxing history.

What was perhaps the most enlightening aspect of the evening was Nigel’s admission that he has derived as much pleasure from his counseling as he has from winning any of his championship belts.

That might be incomprehensible to those of us who have watched him achieve so much in the squared circle, but the Dark Destroyer is truly a man of light and shade.

Click here to visit the official Nigel Benn website.

Evander Holyfield (43-10-2, 21 KOs) is set to defend his World Boxing Federation heavyweight title against Sherman “The Tank” Williams (34-11-2, 19 KOs) in a 12-round championship fight January 22, headlining the “Redemption In America: The Journey Begins Now” Pay-Per-View Event

Holyfield has rebounded from back-to-back losses against Sultan Ibragimov for the WBO title and giant Russian Nikolay Valuev for the WBA crown (in a fight most observers thought he won) with a win over veteran Frans Botha.

That win over the South African gave the former undisputed champion the spurious WBF belt, but Evander still has his sights set on unifying the heavyweight divisions whose spoils are currently split between the Klitschko brothers and David Haye.

In the opposite corner is the sawn-off American heavyweight, whose record boasts a smattering of recognisable names, but no marquee wins. Perhaps the most ominous result on his roster is a points loss to the robotic Tye Fields, whose insanely protected run came to an end at the fists of the useful Monte Barrett in one round back in 2008.

Williams’ nine fight winning streak was spoilt last time out by Hamburg-based Syrian Manuel Char. Dropping a majority points decision in Germany to the undefeated ‘Diamond Boy’, the Tank now has eyes set on upsetting the old warhorse at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Holyfield may not be the force he used to be – his once formidable offence now coming only in spurts, but the 48-year-old great can still fight effectively, as demonstrated in his losing performance against Valuev and should be able to grind down the Tank for a stoppage sometime before the midway point. Williams has fought a live opponent since losing to Ruslan Chagaev back in 2005.

Expect Holyfield to emerge victorious with his dreams of unification intact.

The show will open with a performance of the Ray Charles classic “America,” performed by Tony Award nominee Brandon Victor Dixon from the upcoming Broadway play, “Unchain My Heart,” chronicling the life of Ray Charles. World-renowned saxophone player Clarence Clemons also headlines along with aerialists and dancers.

“Redemption In American,” presented by ARK Promotions in association with The Greenbrier, will be distributed in North American by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 9 PM/ET 6 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay per view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, Avail-TVN and DISH Network in the United States, as well as Viewer’s Choice and Shaw PPV in Canada.

CWH Promotions is the official Mike Tyson agent for dinners and tours.

Having already taken Mike on a series of global sell-out shows, demand is still sky-high for the ‘baddest man on the planet’.

Already confirmed as one of our line-up for the spectacular Legends of Boxing: The Heavyweights arena show in May, Mike will continue to tour with CWH Promotions in 2011 and beyond.

Please contact us for more information.