Joe Calzaghe steamed to victory against US 'Contender' star Peter Manfredo in an emphatic third-round stoppage victory at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

The relative newcomer could do nothing to stop Calzaghe setting himself a boxing record by successfully defending his WBO super-middleweight title for the 20th time, an accomplishment which saw him equal the records of fellow greats Larry Holmes and Bernard Hopkins.

In the third round Calzaghe rained a seemingly never-ending succession of blows down on Manfredo who didn't strike back, leading to the match being stopped by referee Terry O'Connor.

Calzaghe said: "Some said the referee stopped it too early but it was one-way traffic and I was dominant so he would have had to stop it 30 seconds later.

"Now I'm going to speak to my promoter Frank Warren and see where we go from here but four months down the line I'm looking for another fight and a big name."

At least Manfredo went out on his feet, but the manner of Calzaghe's win underlined that the 35-year-old belongs in a different league to almost all the current crop of 12-stone contenders.

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