Enzo Calzaghe
Pietro Vincenzo "Enzo" Calzaghe was an Italian-born British boxing trainer. He was the father of Joe Calzaghe and the head trainer for Team Calzaghe at the Newbridge [boxing club]. He, along with son Joe, was a co-founder of Calzaghe Promotions.
Early life
Calzaghe was born in Bancali, a hamlet of Sassari, in the Italian island of Sardinia to parents Giuseppe and Victoria. He moved at the age of two, with his family, to Bedfordshire. Whilst there he attended school alongside Hungarian-born Joe Bugner, who would later become a European heavyweight champion boxer. Calzaghe's father taught him to box to protect himself from school bullies. The family returned to Italy when Calzaghe was 13 and whilst there he tried to make a career as a footballer - at one point he played on the same team as Gianfranco Zola. Calzaghe said of his early life: "Where I come from, in Sardinia, boys like me either became waiters, boxers or footballers. Well, I didn’t end up as any of them – although I’ve had a go at most".Children
He has three daughters named Sonia Melissa and Annmarie, and one son called Joe.Travelling across Europe
Calzaghe played the bass guitar for his uncle's band 'Survival'. He was conscripted into the Italian Air Force at the age of 19 and immediately found a place in their Milan football team, where he spent much of the next two years. Upon completing his national service in 1969, Calzaghe decided to travel around Europe, making money as a busker. He hitch-hiked from one city to the next for the next couple of years, often sleeping rough in city squares and phone-boxes. After being abandoned by a travelling companion in Amsterdam he traded his ring for a passage on a tomato ship to Whitstable, from where he travelled to Bournemouth where his aunt ran a restaurant his brother Antonio worked for. His aunt had sold the business to return to Italy but convinced the new owner to take him on as an employee. Calzaghe worked at the restaurant during the day and slept there at night, in order to save up enough money to go back home to Sardinia. He saved the cash but, when he got to Southampton station, the tannoy announced a train to Cardiff was due. In Calzaghe's words: "Sod going home, let's try Cardiff".In Cardiff Calzaghe found work at a Wimpy where he fell in love with a waitress, Jackie, who would become his wife just four weeks later. They moved in with Jackie's parents in Markham before getting a house near Blackwood that was near to a boxing gym. Calzaghe was, at the time, working variously as a bus conductor and window salesman whilst also playing in bands with his brother.