Joe Calzaghe retained his World Boxing Organisation super middleweight title with a unanimous decision over American Charles Brewer in Cardiff.

The champion put on a tremendous display but could not floor the American, who previously held the IBF title.

The three judges scored the fight 117-112, 118-111 and 119-109.

Calzaghe showcased all his skills in a fight which started explosively.

The first three rounds featured some thrilling exchanges, with both men firing big punches in an attempt to end it early.

But neither man caved in and the fight turned into a gruelling brawl, which the Welshman won, but not without some difficulty.

In the seventh round, Brewer landed with a number of hard punches which backed up the champion.

Calzaghe regained his composure in the remaining rounds, but his inability to floor Brewer meant that he was always in potential danger.

With the champion comfortably ahead by the final round, Brewer chose to attack without fear, with the final 30 seconds of the fight featuring more intense action.

It was his 10th defence of the title he won after beating Chris Eubank in 1997.

The bonus for Calzaghe is that his performance will have been witnessed by American audiences, who must have been impressed by his all-action style.

The Welshman's record moves to 33 wins, no defeats with 27 wins by knockout.

The 32-year-old Brewer falls to 37-9, with 26 KOs.

In the chief supporting bout, another Welshman, Gary Lockett, lost his undefeated record with a split decision defeat to Russian Yuri Tsarenko.

This was a hard fight which saw the undefeated Lockett severely marked up around the face, with both his eyes shut by the end.

Despite his much vaunted power, Lockett was unable to floor the Russian and the decision, which saw him lose the WBO Intercontinental light-middleweight title, seemed a fair one.

The Cwmbran fighter falls to 16 wins and one defeat, with 13 KOs.